The Guardian
by Caity1
Summary: ^click for the summary^ (it's good...i think =/ aahhh just read it and then you can tell me if its good or not lol luv.caity~)
1. Default Chapter

When the Sons and Briefs get tried of where they're living and want to live like normal people, they move to a normal neighborhood. Mirai Trunks' is living with them, since his future time was plagued by a disease spread by the androids destruction. Living next door to him is a beautiful, energetic blonde who seems to have more problems and worries then she lets on. When Trunks and Ryoko (no, not Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo or Nadesico) start dating, Ryoko and Gohan find out that they're twins! When Ryoko starts living with the Sons, strange things start to happen, a city was demolished by an unknown attacker, Goku is keeping secrets, and Ryoko is having terrible night mares that she is being violently murdered or hurt, but the most horrific part is that when she wakes, she is hurt in some way. What is Goku's secret, and who is giving Ryoko these dreams, who wants her *dead*?  
  
I really like this story and I hope I wrote a good summary and you like it...It's kind of a take-off from my other story, The Messenger. Yes, Mirai Trunks is in this, and it is seven years after the Cell Saga, but no Buu, and Goku's there. I decided that he was gone for a year after the North Kai's planet was blown up, and he returned after and made an excuse that he just excaped from the planet in time using instant transmission. And if you notice, Trunks is seventeen, and as I explained in the fic, Mirai Bulma told him that he looked physically younger because of all the time traveling that he did. And yes, there are marasumi characters here!! I own the characters Ryoko-Son, Mai, and Kotori, but not dragon ball/z/gt and its characters...they belong to some other people. And I used some ideas from Sailor Moon, which I also do not own and is owned by some other people, so dont sue me!!  
  
If what I said first does not sound interesting to you, do not worry, that's just the begining. The real plot...you'll have to read to find out!! =] If you like it, please go on and one last thing, please review!!!!  
  
3always: caity-hime 


	2. click here for the story!

a/n- oooh! I'm sory happy =D I posted the summary of this about two days ago and I already got a review!! Thank you so much!! I hope it's actually as good as you say it is =/ Well, I already have a lot done, so go ahead and read it and please review!!  
  
1  
"You're such an idiot!" Mai yelled, hanging up the phone on their friend Kotori. "Uh! He makes me so mad!" Ryoko laughed.  
  
"You're so mean to him. What did he say?"  
  
"He's like 'uh I have to go'. He's so annoying." Mai folded her arms and shook her head. Her face lit up when she looked out the window, seeing the next door neighbor's garage door open. Mai had dark brown hair and brown eyes, and she had sort of a childish personality. Ryoko had black hair and black. "Noel's home!" Mai cried. Mai had liked Noel since she was twelve, but on and off, between hating him and liking him.  
  
"Mai…uh…" Ryoko started, not wanting to tell her what she had to say.  
  
"Come on!" Mai jumped out of her chair and ran out the front door. Ryoko sighed and walked out after her, slowly. Mai stood transfixed in the neighbors' driveway.   
  
"Who's that?" She asked.   
  
"That's what I had to tell you." Ryoko started. "Noel and Sophia moved over there." She pointed across the street and a couple houses down.  
  
"Then who's that?"  
  
"I dunno. My new neighbor." The boy standing in the driveway had lavender hair and blue eyes. He was tall, and well built.  
  
"He's hot." Mai said. The boy looked at them, blushing a little; he looked like he had heard the two. Mai and Ryoko's eyes widened, and they walked back in Ryoko's house.  
  
"I think he heard you." Ryoko said. Mai looked angrily at Ryoko.  
  
"Why did you let him move? Now I can never look at him from your pool deck anymore!" She sobbed. Ryoko laughed.  
  
  
"How would I have stopped him?" She asked. "We have another new person on the street, too. He lives across the street. He's kinda cute."  
  
"Really?" Mai asked. "Okay, two hot boys. Noel lives on this street still, so it's okay." The doorbell rang. "Oh no…here we go."  
  
Ryoko got up from the couch and opened the door, Kotori was standing there.  
  
"Kotori!" Mai cried, jumping up and running to the door. She had also liked Kotori for a while, along with Ryoko, but like Noel, Mai's affections had been on and off.  
  
"Yo. I'm hungry." Kotori walked into the house and immediately went to the fridge. Kotori had dirty blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He was a little shorter than Ryoko, but taller than Mai. He had a sense of humor, and was one of Ryoko and Mai's best friends.  
  
"You can't do that." Mai said, closing the door. "You can't just walk into Ryoko's house and eat." Kotori shrugged and took out the Pepsi and poured it into a cup. Kotori was over Ryoko's house a lot, like Mai, and they didn't hesitate to do things. "I wanna go outside."  
  
Mai walked outside, Ryoko following, then soon Kotori.   
  
"Whoa, what the hell?" Ryoko asked, looking in her neighbors' yard. Running around   
the yard with another small boy, was a boy with lavender hair and blue eyes. He looked exactly like the one that Ryoko had seen in the driveway, except younger.  
  
"Whoa…" Mai said.  
  
"Whoa what? It's just some little kids." Kotori said.  
  
"We just saw an older one that looked exactly like the lavender haired one." Ryoko said. A woman with blue hair and blue eyes walked out from the back yard and walked to Ryoko and her friends.  
  
"Hello, you must be our new neighbors." She said, smiling.  
  
"Yes, hi." Ryoko said, smiling back.  
  
"As you must know, we just moved here three days ago." She sighed. "It's good to get out of the city." The woman outstretched her hand. "My name is Bulma Brief."  
  
"I'm Ryoko." Ryoko said, and shook Bulma's hand. "These are my friends, Kotori and Mai." They said hi. Bulma smiled.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Kotori and I are sixteen, and Mai's seventeen." Ryoko said. "I'm turning seventeen next month."  
  
"Really? My oldest son just turned seventeen the beginning of this month." Bulma   
said. "Do you go to SCS?"  
  
"Yeah." Ryoko said. SCS was their school; it stood for Satan City School.  
  
"Oh, that's great, my son will be starting there in August, with you, I guess." She said, smiling again.  
  
"Wait." Kotori said. "Bulma Brief? The Bulma Brief, owner of Capsule Corporation?" Bulma smiled.  
  
"Yup, that's me." She said. Ryoko, Mai, and Kotori's eyes widened. "We moved here to get away from Capsule Corporation for a while, to live like normal people would." She looked at the three, they were in awe. "Uh…you want to come in and meet Trunks?" Ryoko blinked.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure." She said, and they followed Bulma inside the house.  
  
"Trunks?" Bulma called. The boy came down the stairs, and Ryoko and Mai stared at him, and had the same thoughts going across their minds.  
  
"Yeah?" Trunks asked, standing in front of his mother.  
  
"This is Ryoko, she's our new neighbor, and these are her friends, Mai and Kotori." Bulma said. Trunks smiled.  
  
"Hi." He said, sticking out his hand to shake Ryoko's. She shook his hand, also saying hi, but the two quickly pulled away when an electric shock shot through their body.  
  
"What? What's wrong?" Bulma asked. The two were rubbing their hands, staring at each other awkwardly.  
  
"We got shocked." Trunks said. The little boy that looked exactly like Trunks walked into the house with the other little boy. The other little boy had black hair and large, black eyes.  
  
"Hi." The little boy said. Bulma introduced them.  
  
"This is Goten." One said, pointing to the one with black hair.  
  
"Hi!" Goten cried.  
  
"And I'm Tru-" The boy started, and then put his hand behind his head and sweat dropped. "Yup, that's my name, Tra."  
  
"Hi, Tra…" Ryoko said. Tra looked angrily at Trunks.  
  
"Tra…" Bulma started. "And Trunks are brothers." Ryoko nodded, not sure what to say.  
  
"We'd better get going." Ryoko said, smiling at Trunks. He blushed a little, but smiled.  
  
"Okay, see you later!" Bulma exclaimed as the trio walked out of the house and back into Ryokos'.  
  
"I like Bulma." Ryoko said.  
  
"I like Trunks." Mai said.  
  
"You like every guy you see!" Kotori cried with disgust.  
  
"Yeah, Trunks is really hot." Ryoko added, ignoring Kotori.  
  
"Ugh!" Mai cried. "There are too many boys!" Her eyes widened. "I wanna go meet that other new boy."  
  
"Okay. I already know him, so it won't be too awkward." Ryoko said as they went back outside. "His name's Gohan, and now that I remember it, Goten is his little brother."  
  
"I didn't come over here to go see boys." Kotori said.  
  
"Then you can leave." Mai snapped. Kotori gritted his teeth and mumbled under his breath, but followed the girls.  
  
Ryoko rung the doorbell and a man with spiky black hair came to the door. He yawned, and then smiled widely.  
  
"Hey Ryoko! You looking for Gohan?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, is he home?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah, hang on." Goku walked away from the door.  
  
"How do you know him?" Mai asked.  
  
"Goten was playing with Eric the other day, and Gohan came with him." Ryoko said. Eric was Ryoko's brother. Gohan came to the door, and came outside.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko." He said.  
  
"Hi." She said. "These are my friends, Mai and Kotori. Mai, Kotori, this is Gohan." They all said 'hi'. Kotori sighed.  
  
"You know, it is hot out here. Can we go in the pool or something?" He said to Ryoko.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Gohan, you wanna come?" She asked. Gohan smiled.  
  
"Sure! I'll meet you over there in about five minutes, I have to get changed." He said.  
  
"Kay, bye." They turned and went back to Ryoko's house.  
  
"Oh my God, oh my God." Mai panted. "They're all so hot! Hey, where are you going?" Ryoko was walking towards Trunks' house.  
  
"I'm inviting Trunks. You guys go in the pool; I'll be there in a minute." Kotori and Mai shrugged and went into Ryokos' back yard. Ryoko rang Trunks' doorbell, and he came to the door. "Hey, do you wanna come over my house and go in my pool? Gohan's going." Gohan had told her before that he and Trunks had been friends for a couple years.  
  
"Sure, I'll go get changed, I'll be there in a minute." Ryoko smiled and nodded, then went to her backyard. Gohan was already there, standing on the deck. Mai and Kotori were in the pool.  
  
"Is it cold?" Gohan asked.  
  
"No." Kotori said. Ryoko took off her shirt; she had her bathing suit underneath. Trunks came in through the gate, and blushed when he saw her with just her bathing suit top on. Man… Ryoko thought. This boy is going to faint from all this blushing…but it's cute. She pulled off her shorts. She was wearing a red bikini. Gohan took off his shirt and jumped into the pool, creating a large wave.  
  
Trunks walked up onto the deck with Ryoko, and she pulled an elastic of off her wrist and put her hair up in a high pony tail. She stepped into the pool, on the steps, and was surprised at how warm it was. She went down all the stairs, and waded in the water next to Mai. Trunks followed her in.  
  
"I wanna play football." Mai said.  
  
"We don't have enough people. We'd need at least one more person to get teams of three." Ryoko said. Mai sighed.  
  
"No, I can have Trunks and Gohan, and you can have Kotori."  
  
"That's not fair."  
  
"Yes it is." Mai giggled; Ryoko shook her head, smiling.  
  
"Let's play a game." Gohan decided.  
  
"Like what?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"Marco Polo!" Mai cried.  
  
"No, shark." Ryoko said. "Same thing as Marco Polo except you don't say anything." She looked at Gohan. "Whoever suggested the game is it." Gohan blinked a couple times.  
  
"Okay…what do I do?" He asked.  
  
"You go under and count to ten." Mai said.  
  
"Under where?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Under ground." Kotori said, rolling his eyes. Gohan scratched his head.  
  
"That would be kinda hard…" He said.  
  
"Under the water. You have to keep your eyes closed and look for us when you come up." Ryoko said, laughing. Gohan said 'okay' then went under water and counted to ten. He came back up, and started searching around for them. He immediately found   
Ryoko and tapped her.  
  
"How did you find me so easily?" Ryoko asked when Gohan opened his eyes.  
  
"You're all so loud." He said. Ryoko blinked, she hadn't heard anything from anyone.  
  
"Okay…" Ryoko said, then went under water and counted to ten. She came up and took in a deep breath, then let it out. She started walking around the pool blindly, searching for someone. She didn't hear anything, unlike Gohan.  
  
She heard a small splash, and pounced to where she heard it from. She landed on a body, and, thinking they would both fall under the water, the body didn't move. Even so, she had touched him, and he was it. She opened her eyes, and blushed to see that her body was pushed tightly against Trunks. She jumped back.  
  
"You're it." She said, nervously smiling. He was blushing a little, also. It was dark out, now, and Ryoko looked at the sky, smiling. She loved the night sky. Everyone looked up with her, and Kotori gave her a puzzled look.  
  
"What are you looking at?" He asked. Ryoko laughed lightly and shook her head.  
  
"Nothing." She said.  
  
"Well, I gotta go." Kotori said.  
  
"Kay, bye." Mai said, and Kotori and Ryoko looked at her awkwardly. Usually she'd whine and cry when Kotori had to go, but now she was preoccupied by looking at Gohan.  
  
"See ya." Kotori got out of the pool. Ryoko looked at Trunks, and then followed him.   
  
They stood in the yard, near the door.  
  
"Bye." She said, and then hugged him. Kotori was a little surprised by this; usually she was too shy to do something like that. Kotori hugged her back, then left. She smiled to herself then went back in the pool. She was wondering how much longer she was going to love Kotori.  
  
2  
  
"I call Gohan." Mai said later that night. It was eleven o' clock, and Gohan and Trunks had just left. Ryoko laughed.  
  
"Well, then, I call Trunks."  
  
"No! That's not fair!" Mai cried, and then sighed. "Okay, I'm only going to like Gohan."  
  
"You really do like every guy you see."  
  
"Nuh-uh! Only Gohan, now." She said. "He's so cute! And did you see his muscles?"  
  
"Yeah, did you see Trunks'? I wonder how they got so strong." Ryoko said.  
  
"What was Kotori's' problem?" Mai asked.  
  
"What do you mean? He was fine." Ryoko said.  
  
"Maybe to you he was, because you were too busy staring at Trunks." She said. "But he kept looking at you, and he looked like, mad, maybe even jealous."  
  
"Sure he was." Ryoko said. All she ever wanted was Kotori to be jealous of Ryoko talking to another guy, to care for her.  
  
"I'm serious!" Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "I swear to God!"  
  
"Okay. Anyway, I have to make my list of who I'm inviting to my party." Ryoko said.  
  
"That's easy." Ryoko got a pen and a notebook. "Kotori, Gohan, Trunks, Me, Amy, Caitlin, Mike, Noel, Sophia…um…"  
  
"Meagan, Lauryn, Bryan, Kaylyn, Kim, Kelly, Madeline, Kate, and Mike." She said.  
  
"Why are you making your list now? Your party isn't until next month." Mai said. Ryoko shrugged.  
  
"I'm bored." She said.  
  
A week passed, and Ryoko had been seeing Trunks every day; sometimes with Gohan, and sometimes they were alone.  
  
Ryoko was sitting on her roof, now, staring at the night sky, thinking of Kotori and Trunks. Her parents were out, her mom at college, and her dad at work. Her brother and sister were sleeping over their cousins' house, and her Grandma was at their aunts' house.  
  
"I feel like Mai." Ryoko said with a laugh. She didn't know who she loved now; Kotori and Trunks were both so great.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko." Ryoko jumped and looked down at Trunks, who was standing in his driveway, looking up at her.  
  
"Hey." She said, smiling. She felt that she didn't really miss Kotori, she hadn't seen him for that week, but she was still unsure if she loved him or Trunks.  
  
"What are you doing up there?" Ryoko laughed.  
  
"I come up here every Wednesday night, it's when no ones home. I get some time to myself, you know, to think things out." Trunks bent his knees slightly and jumped up onto the roof, Ryoko gasped and her eyes widened. "H-how did you do that?" She cried. His eyes widened for a second, and then he sighed.  
  
"Well, secret's out, I guess." He smiled. "I can fly. So can Gohan, and Goten, and-   
Tra." Ryoko's eyes widened even more, and she stood up next to him.  
  
"How?" She cried. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always wanted to fly. Trunks looked the other way, and then gave her another smile.  
  
"You want me to take you?"  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Flying."  
  
"Really? You could?" She asked.  
  
"Of course." He said, and then lifted her off her feet and took her into the air. She cried out in surprise, and was a little frightened at first, she had always been afraid of heights. But she soon got used to it, and was not afraid at all.  
  
He took her to a field (it took about fifteen minutes to get there), and then set her down.  
  
"How did you do that?" She asked.  
  
"It's pretty easy to learn." He paused. "You want me to teach you?"  
  
"Now?" She asked.  
  
"Well, no, it's a little late, now. Maybe I could take you here again tomorrow morning." Ryoko smiled.  
  
"That would be great!"  
  
  
Ryoko jumped on her bed. Trunks had just flown her back. It was late, but she didn't feel tired at all. In fact, she felt anything but tired. She knew now that she loved Trunks, and not Kotori.  
  
"…he's teaching me to fly." She said to herself, still amazed. She laughed to herself and squeezed a pillow. "I've got to get rid of some of this energy; he's coming for me at ten tomorrow morning. Ugh…early, but it's worth it."  
  
Ryoko went into the living room and turned on the TV, and starting jumping up and down, trying to get rid of her energy. She started getting tired about an hour later, and went to bed.  
  
3  
  
Ryoko woke at nine thirty, and took a shower. The shower took her about ten minutes, and she had dressed in comfortable clothes, as Trunks told her to do. He said to wear something like stretch pants or spandex, not jeans. So she put on black stretch pants that flared at the bottom and had white stripes on the side, a black tank top, and white sneakers.  
  
She walked into the front room, and sat on the couch to wait for him. The phone started to ring, so she jumped up and picked it up.  
  
"Hello?" She asked.  
  
"Hi." It was Mai. She sighed, hoping it was Trunks saying that he was on his way, but he had never said that he would call.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Can I come over today?" She asked.  
  
"Uh…no."  
  
"Why not?" She asked, angered and annoyed. "I haven't seen you and Gohan in like, forever!"  
  
"I'm not going to be home today."  
  
"Where are you going?" Ryoko sighed, she knew that Mai would be mad that she was going somewhere with Trunks.  
  
Ryoko heard footsteps outside her door, and then someone knocked. Ryoko could tell it was Trunks, she saw the outline of him through the door.  
  
"Come in!" Ryoko cried, and Trunks came in. He closed the door behind him and put his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Who's there?" Mai asked.  
  
"Trunks."  
  
"Why is he there?"  
  
"Because! I gotta go, see ya." Ryoko hung up and walked to Trunks. "Is this alright to wear?" He nodded.  
  
"You ready?" He asked. She nodded. They walked out the door, and Trunks picked her up and jumped into the air. Ryoko was still amazed by his trick, and couldn't wait to learn.  
  
  
They landed in the same field as the night before, and Trunks sat down on the grass. She sat down in front of him, they were facing each other. Trunks scratched his head.  
  
"I don't think I've ever taught someone to fly before." He said. "Well, I guess all you really need to do is push your energy below you and you just lift into the air." Ryoko blinked her face blank. "But I guess I would have to show you how to bring out that energy, first." He sighed, and Ryoko thought that this was going to be harder than she thought.  
  
Trunks put his hands in front of him, and spread out his fingers. Slowly, a ball of light formed in his hands. Ryoko's eyes widened and she stared at it, the light glistening in her eyes. The ball of light disappeared from his hands, and he looked back at Ryoko.  
  
"Okay, put your hands the way I did." Ryoko put her hands out, slowly, and then spread her fingers. "How do I say this…listen to the center of your body, try to bring all of your energy there. Clear your mind, and concentrate of just that spot." Ryoko sighed, closing her eyes and concentrated on the middle of her stomach, figuring that that was the center of her body. After about five minutes, Trunks spoke again. "Now try to bring that out into your hands. It might be a little hard since you've never done Martial Arts." Ryoko tried to push it out, and she felt like an idiot. If she hadn't seen Trunks fly, she would have thought that he was crazy.  
  
  
Ryoko and Trunks had been working on pulling out her energy for about two hours now, they were starting to get hungry, and Ryoko was no closer to flying.  
  
Ryoko sighed angrily and put her hands down, opening her eyes. Trunks smiled.  
  
"You did great." He said. "It doesn't take a day to start flying."  
  
"How long did it take you and Gohan?"  
  
"Uh…a week, but we had been doing martial arts." He responded.  
  
"I see." Ryoko looked at the grass; she had hoped that she would be flying home.  
  
"You wanna go get something to eat?" Ryoko looked back up at him and smiled.  
  
"Yeah." She said, standing up. Trunks stood up, picked her up, and flew into the air.  
  
  
Trunks landed in near a mall, where Ryoko suggested they go to get something to eat.   
  
He followed her in, not knowing his way around. She led him to a restaurant, and they went in and were seated.  
  
Man… Trunks thought as a waitress took their order. She is really tempting. But mom wants to keep our life secret. He felt like he could just spill out his whole past to her, his world being destroyed, saving the future, then returning home only to find that his mother was going to die in three years. Future Bulma had caught a disease that was going around that was caused by the Androids destruction, and she had told him to leave after about a week after his returning. She didn't want him to catch it, so she wanted him to live in the past, where she was still alive and healthy, where Gohan was, and his father.  
  
Even though Trunks had only known Ryoko for a week and a half, he felt like he'd known her much longer. He sat in the booth of the restaurant, now, twisting his napkin below the table, trying not to just blab out his horrifying past.  
  
"Trunks, you look upset." Ryoko said, concern filling her deep, black eyes. Trunks put the napkin back on the table (after he had flattened it out from all his twisting), and smiled.  
  
"No, I'm fine." He said.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Positive." Ryoko smiled.  
  
"Hey, can you keep a secret?" She asked. Trunks smirked and nodded. "Well, you know Mai?" He nodded again. "Well, she likes Gohan."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah. He's all she talks about." Trunks laughed.  
  
"Well, she's going to have a hard time getting him with Videl around." Ryoko blinked.  
  
"Videl Satan?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Gohan doesn't like to admit it, but Videl and Gohan like each other." Trunks said.   
Ryoko laughed.  
  
"Mai wouldn't like that." She said. "You want me to keep it from her?"  
  
"Yeah. Gohan turns red whenever someone mentions Videl." Ryoko laughed. Trunks smiled, and also laughed. "So, how's your fried Kotori?" Ryoko blinked and looked to the side, her smile gone.  
  
"Good."  
  
"I thought he came over your house like, everyday?"  
  
"He used to. I haven't seen or heard from him since the day when you all came into my pool." Ryoko sighed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Trunks asked. Ryoko shrugged.  
  
"I'm just a little confused."  
  
"About what?" She again shrugged.  
  
"I dunno." She sighed and looked back at Trunks. "Kotori, and-" She laughed. "It's nothing, forget it." Trunks blinked a couple of times, and then decided against nagging her for the rest of her explanation.  
  
  
Ryoko walked into her house, slightly frustrated, but also excited. She was frustrated that she had not mastered the art of flying (even when Trunks tried to show her after lunch, they spent five more hours at it and Ryoko could not even get a little light in her hands), but she was excited to go to her next lesson with Trunks, which was scheduled for Saturday, two days from today.  
  
When she got in the house, the phone started ringing.  
  
"Hello?" She asked, picking up the phone.  
  
"Ryoko!" Mai cried. Ryoko sighed.  
  
"…what?" She asked.  
  
"Why was Trunks over your house? And where were you today?"  
  
"I went somewhere with Trunks, okay?!"  
  
"Where?!"  
  
"Why do you care?!" Mai grunted angrily.  
  
"Calm down!" She cried. "Can I come over please?" She whined. Ryoko sighed.  
  
"Yeah. Fine."  
  
"Really?! I can! Thank you! Okay, my mom's takin' me there now, bye."  
  
"Bye." Ryoko hung up. All Mai would want to do was go over Gohan's house, but that was okay to Ryoko, she could just spend more time with Trunks.  
  
After a few minutes, Mai walked in the front door and put her back pack on the floor.  
  
"Can we go to Gohan's?" She asked. Ryoko sighed, laughing.  
  
"Sure. But I want Trunks to come out, too." Mai sighed.  
  
"Fine."   
  
"You go get Gohan, I'll call Trunks." Mai walked back out of the house, so Ryoko picked up the phone and dialed Trunks' number.  
  
"Hello?" Bulma asked when she picked up the phone.  
  
"Hi, Bulma, is Trunks there?"  
  
"Sure, hold on one minute, Ryoko." In the background, Ryoko heard Bulma yell 'Trunks, pick up the phone!'.  
  
"Hello?" Trunks asked, picking up another phone as Bulma hung up her phone.  
  
"Hey." Ryoko said. "Mai just came over, and she went to get Gohan, so do you wanna come over?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay, I'm going into my front yard. See ya."  
  
"Okay, bye." 


	3. click here for more of the story!

4  
  
Over the next couple of weeks, Ryoko had gotten to know Trunks better and better with the flying lessons, and was happy to say that she had almost learned the technique. She knew, now, that she loved Trunks and not Kotori, and she still had not talked to Kotori since that day.  
  
"You're not telling me something." Trunks said during one of their lessons. "You have to clear your mind to bring out your energy for the first time, so just tell me what's on your mind." Ryoko dropped her eyes to the side.  
  
"If I could say what I wanted to say..." She paused. "I'd say I wanna blow you away, be with you every moment." She blushed, and then laughed a little. She had never told anyone that she loved them in front of them, either they found a note saying it, and she told them online. Trunks blinked a couple of times.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ryoko sighed.  
  
"I love you, Trunks." She said. Trunks laughed a little, the blushed lightly.  
  
"Well, uh…" He started. "I love you, too." Ryoko was shocked, but then smiled.  
  
"Really?" She asked. He nodded, blushing deeper. Ryoko laughed then jumped at him, hugging him tightly. Trunks hugged her back, and Ryoko felt happier than ever. She leaned back and kissed him lightly, and he turned bright red. Ryoko laughed again, and then he kissed her.  
  
5  
  
"You want him to go, right?" Mai asked about two weeks later. She was a little upset that Ryoko was going out with Trunks (seeming as she wasn't with Gohan yet), but she was over it in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Yeah…" Ryoko said.  
  
"Then call him." Mai said. "It's not that big of a deal."  
  
"I haven't talked to him all summer." Ryoko sighed, but picked up the phone and dialed Kotori's number.  
  
"Hello?" Kotori had picked up.  
  
"Hey, Kotori." Ryoko said, Kotori paused for a second.  
  
"Hey." He said.  
  
"How's your summer been going?"  
  
"Good." He said. "You?"  
  
"Great." She said, smiling a little to herself. "Hey, my birthday party is Friday, do you   
want to go?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." He said.  
  
"Okay, it starts at three and ends at like, eleven at the earliest. It's a pool party."  
  
"Okay." Kotori said. "Bye."  
  
"…bye." Ryoko hung up the phone.  
  
"Is he going?" Mai asked.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"So who's going now? Me, you, Kotori, Trunks, Gohan…?"  
  
"I dunno. Other people." Ryoko said. Mai rolled her eyes.  
  
"Is Amy going?" She asked.  
  
"I think so." Ryoko replied.  
  
"We should tell Gohan and Kotori to come early." Mai said.  
  
"And Trunks." Ryoko added. Mai nodded.  
  
  
"You want me to come…now?" Trunks asked on the phone Friday morning. During the week, Ryoko had finally learned how to fly. It was like a dream come true, but she slightly missed just flying in Trunks' arms.  
  
"Yup. Gohan and Kotori are on their way over, now." Gohan knocked on the door. "Oh, there's Gohan now."  
  
"Okay, I'm coming." Trunks said. Mai sprang off the couch and opened the door for Gohan.  
  
"Hi!" She cried.  
  
"Hi, Gohan!" Ryoko said. "Okay, see ya soon."  
  
"Okay, bye."  
  
"Bye." Ryoko hung up. Gohan handed Ryoko a box with a card attached to it.  
  
"Here, happy birthday." Gohan said with a large smile. Ryoko grinned, said thank you, and put it on the table beside Mai's gift, which was in a medium sized black bag. Ryoko saw Trunks' silhouette through the door, and opened it for him.  
  
"Hey." Trunks said. "Happy birthday." Ryoko hugged him, and then took the large box from him. She wondered what the three got her, but didn't want to even peak inside, she wanted to wait.  
  
"When's Kotori getting here?" Mai said with a large sigh. "Let's wait outside for him." They walked into the front yard. "Do you think he got cuter?"  
  
"Mai…" Ryoko said, sighing.  
  
"Kotori!" Mai yelled, seeing a boy coming down the street on a bike. She waved with a large smile on her face.  
  
Kotori arrived at the yard, and handed Ryoko a card in a white envelope.  
  
"Hi!!" Mai cried.  
  
"Hi." Kotori said, much less enthusiastic.  
  
"Where were you all summer?!" She asked. Kotori shrugged.  
  
"Having a life…? I bet you were calling me every five seconds, huh?" He asked. Mai's eyes went up and she tried to suppress a smile.  
  
"No…" She lied.  
  
"Yeah, sure!" Kotori cried, nodding.  
  
"What time is it?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Two thirty." Ryoko said. "People are coming at three."  
  
"Yeah, I wanted you and Gohan to come at like, twelve." Mai said to Kotori. Kotori shrugged.  
  
"I had to go get Ryoko's card." Kotori said.  
  
"Nice, get it on the day of my party." Ryoko said, laughing. Kotori shrugged, laughing a little.  
  
"Heh…yeah." He said. "You gonna be playing music?"  
  
"Naw…" Ryoko said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Oh, why not?" Kotori asked. Ryoko laughed, knowing that he was being sarcastic.   
  
Ryoko felt so different being around Kotori now that she was with Trunks, she didn't feel so sad and hopeless.  
  
"The radio's in the backyard." Ryoko said, turning around and walking through the gate, the others following.  
  
"Can I be the DJ" Kotori cried, sitting on one of the chairs around the table.  
  
"…sure." Ryoko said. Kotori put on a radio station. Ryoko sat down on a lawn chair, and stared up at the sky, having and incredible urge to use her new ability. She turned her eyes to Trunks. "Trunks?"  
  
"Yeah?" He asked, looking at her. Ryoko stood up and stood in the door frame.  
  
"Come 'ere a minute." She said. Trunks got up and they went into the house.  
  
"What is it?" He asked.  
  
"Where…where did you ever learn to fly?" She asked, suddenly amazed that she hadn't asked him sooner. "And how come when I found out you go 'secret's out'?" Trunks blinked a couple of times, and then scratched his head.  
  
"Pretty much everyone I know knows how to fly. I think we learned it from a guy named Tien. But I don't know, my mas- um, Gohan taught me." Trunks said. "And by keeping it a secret, I meant that we didn't want anyone to find out because it's kinda weird, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess." She said. "You don't want anyone else to find out?" She asked, getting ready to walk out the door. He nodded. "Okay." They went back outside.  
  
"What?" Mai asked.  
  
"Nothing. I just had the ask Trunks something." Ryoko said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing!" Ryoko cried. Mai sighed. Ryoko looked at Trunks again. "Hey, what time is it?" Trunks looked at his watch.  
  
"Three."  
  
"Really?!"  
  
"Yeah." Ryoko looked at everyone.  
  
"Okay, then we gotta go in and wait for everyone." They all went into the house. Kotori sat on one of the chairs, Mai sat on the other one, Gohan sat on the floor, and Ryoko and Trunks sat on the couch.  
  
A couple minutes later, Ryoko rubbed her eyes and leaned her head on Trunks' shoulder.  
  
"I'm bored." Ryoko said. She picked up Trunks' hand and looked at his watch, seeming as there was nothing else to do. Trunks let his hand lay limply in hers, and also stared at his watch. "Where did you get this?"  
  
"My grandpa made it for me." He said. Ryoko looked at Mai, putting down Trunks' hand, but holding it still. "Mai, what did you get me?"  
  
"A CD player." Ryoko threw her free hand in the air and rolled her eyes.  
  
"You're not supposed to tell me."  
  
"Well you asked." Mai said with a giggle. Kotori looked oddly at Ryoko and Trunks.  
  
  
"Are you two goin' out?" He asked. Ryoko rubbed her eyes again.  
  
"Yeah... Where have you been?" Mai said, staring at Kotori.  
  
"I haven't talked to you people for like a month!" Kotori cried.  
  
"Yeah, we are." Ryoko said, still rubbing her eye. "Ugh. When are they going to get here?"  
  
"I'll be right back." Kotori said, getting up and walking into the other side of the house. Gohan looked at the door.  
  
"Someone's here." He said. Ryoko jumped up, letting go of Trunks' hand, and opened the door. Caitlin was just getting out of her car. Ryoko waved.  
  
  
"Hi, Caitlin!" She cried. Caitlin waved and walked up to the door, handing Ryoko a box.   
  
"Thanks." They went back in the house and Ryoko closed the door.  
  
"Hi!" Mai cried. Caitlin waved and said 'hi', also.  
  
"Okay, so you know Kotori and Mai." Ryoko started. "Now, this is my boyfriend, Trunks, and our friend, Gohan."  
  
"Hi." Caitlin said, waving to them. "I heard about you, Trunks." She said with a smile. Trunks blushed a little.  
  
"Stop!!" Kotori cried, sitting back down in his chair. Trunks looked at him. "You blush too much!"  
  
"It's not his fault." Ryoko said.  
  
"But still!"  
  
6  
  
The party had been going on for about four hours, and everyone was having a good time, that is, except for Kotori. He seemed a little upset, but no one asked him what was wrong.  
  
It was seven o' clock, and the sky was darkening. Everyone had just gotten around the pool and was standing together beside the house, talking and listening to the music.  
  
Someone walked into the backyard, spotted Gohan, Trunks, and Ryoko, and walked over to them.  
  
"Hey!" Ryoko turned around.  
  
"Oh, hey, Goku." Ryoko said. Goku smiled widely.  
  
"Hey!" He repeated. "Ryoko? Gohan? Can I talk to you two for a minute?" Ryoko and Gohan blinked.  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure." They both said at the same time. They started walking into the front yard, when Ryoko heard Mai's high pitched voice.  
  
"Where are you going?!" She cried, to Ryoko and Gohan.  
  
"We'll be right back!" Gohan called back, and then they went into the front. Standing in Ryoko's front yard was a woman that Ryoko didn't recognize, but she looked like Gohan's mother. "Mom? What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm here to see Ryoko." She said, smiling. "Have you noticed that your family hasn't been home all day, Ryoko-chan?" Ryoko blinked.  
  
"Come to think of it, I haven't." She said, a bit confused that her family wasn't home for her birthday party.  
  
"This is going to be kind of hard for you to believe." The woman said. "By the way, my name is Chichi."   
  
"What's going to be hard for me to believe?" Ryoko asked. Chichi sighed.  
  
"You're actually Goku and my daughter." Ryoko's eyes widened and she laughed.  
  
"What? You've got to be kidding." Chichi didn't look like she was kidding.  
  
"I'm not. You see, Gohan and you are twins. When you two were born, even though Goku promised me that Gohan would not be a fighter like his father, but I knew that Gohan would, not that I liked it. So I suggested that we gave you to a normal family, so you would be normal." Chichi said.  
  
"So…why haven't my parents been home?"  
  
"They moved. We live there, now." Chichi said, smiling.  
  
"What?!" Gohan cried. "Why didn't I ever know this?!"   
  
"We wanted to keep it from you." Goku spoke up. Ryoko blinked a couple of times.   
  
She had always hated her brother, and her alcoholic step father, and her real father that she had not seen for ten years. She thought her mom was okay, but most of the time she hated her, it seemed like her mother didn't care about her at all, so Ryoko was not devastated about the news.  
  
"Oh…I see." Ryoko said.  
  
"We have already changed your name to Ryoko Son in school and all." Chichi said, then smiled. "Okay, go ahead and get back to your party."  
  
Gohan and Ryoko started walking back.  
  
"Why are you acting so...calm about this?" Gohan asked as they went through the gate. Ryoko shrugged.  
  
"My immediate family wasn't too great, anyway."  
  
"I see." Ryoko walked back to Trunks, he had been leaning up against the house.  
  
"What was that all about?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Well...I guess that Chichi and Goku are my real parents." She said. Trunks' eyes widened.  
  
"What?! Really?!" He cried. She nodded. Gohan walked up to them.  
  
"Trunks, now that we know that she's my sister, we need to tell her some things." He said. Trunks nodded.  
  
"Tell me what?" Ryoko asked. Gohan grabbed her arm, and in a matter of seconds, Ryoko was in Trunks' back yard. "What the- how- how did you do that?!"  
  
  
"I'm fast." Gohan said with a smile. Trunks sighed. They were going to explain to her about her heritage, how she was a saiyan, and about their lives. Trunks was feeling hesitant to tell her his past.  
  
"What do you have to tell me?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"You're going to find this hard the believe." Gohan stated. Ryoko didn't answer, so Gohan started explaining everything. When it came for Trunks to explain, he sighed.  
  
"I did not grow up in this time." Trunks said. Ryoko stared at him, blankly. "I grew up in the future, and androids had taken over my time. Many of the world's people were dead, and it wasn't much better for those who were alive. My master Gohan and I were the only fighters left. Goku, Piccolo, my father, Tien, Yamcha, and Krilan were all dead. So when I was seventeen, I came to this time, seven years ago, to warn them of the future." Gohan explained the rest, about the androids of this time, and Cell.  
  
"But- you're seventeen now." Ryoko said, confused. "How were you seventeen seven years ago?"  
  
"Yeah, I've been wondering that, too." Gohan said, and they both looked at him.  
  
"Before my mother sent me back to this time, she said that when I came here, I would be nine years younger from all the time traveling." Trunks said.  
  
"Nine years? But you would have been twenty four, not twenty six." Ryoko said.  
  
"Yes, but I spent two years inside the hyperbolic time chamber." He said.  
  
"So...I'm not human?" Ryoko asked. The boys nodded. "How do you become a Super Saiyan?" Gohan and Trunks looked at each other.  
  
"Well..." Gohan started. "You have to have a great pain. Becoming a super saiyan comes from a need, not a desire. Like I went super saiyan when I picture Cell killing my family and friends."  
  
"And I became a super saiyan when Master Gohan died." Trunks said, his fist clenched and his eyes filled with anger.  
  
"And dad became one when fighting Freeza." Gohan said. "And Vegeta achieved it from needing to be stronger than dad."  
  
"I see." Ryoko said. "So I must be very weak to you guys." They laughed and shrugged, then started walking back to Ryoko's party.  
  
"Where'd you go?" Kotori asked, coming over to Ryoko. People had left, and only Mai, Kotori, Amy, Ryoko, Gohan, and Trunks remained.  
  
"Where'd everyone else go?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"Home, we couldn't find you." Mai said.  
  
"Oh." Ryoko looked up at the sky, and saw something blue quickly dash across it.  
7  
  
Ryoko had been living with the Son family for about two months now, and they had just started school. For the rest of the summer, Kotori had avoided her again. In school, it was hard to avoid her, but he managed.  
  
Ryoko stood in her homeroom, staring angrily at the clock. It was nearly time to pass, but it seemed that the clock was going slow just to annoy her. The intercom clicked, and everyone knew that someone was about to talk.  
  
"Excuse me SCS." The principal said. "But we have just gotten news that Ginger Town and Central Capital have been bombed by unknown attackers, officials are assuming terrorists. Estimates of two thousand people have been killed, and they are still looking for survivors."  
  
One of Ryoko's classmates stood.  
  
"My mom was on a business trip in Central Capital!" She cried, running out of the room. Ryoko's eyes widened and she looked at Gohan, then Trunks.  
  
"Two…thousand?" She said in disbelief. Gohan smiled.  
  
"Hey, why don't we all go on a search for the dragon balls and wish them all back?" He suggested. Ryoko smiled.  
  
"Yeah! Good idea!" She cried.  
  
"Hey, can I come?" Videl asked, walking over to them and smiling.  
  
"Yeah!" Gohan cried. Ryoko put her hands together.  
  
"It can be like a rode trip!" She cried out.  
  
"You in, Trunks?" Videl asked. Trunks smiled and nodded.  
  
"Alright, let's all meet in the air above our house after school." Gohan said. "We should pack our stuff into Capsule Corp. suitcases so we can turn them into dino caps."  
  
"Good idea." Ryoko said.  
  
  
Ryoko pressed the button on her suit case and put the dino cap into her pocket and walked into the kitchen where Gohan was waiting for her. Her mom frowned.  
  
"You be careful." She said, then sighed. "The whole point of you living with normal people was so that she wouldn't turn out like her father…"  
  
"Hey, she's a saiyan!" Goku cried, throwing a fist in the air with a large, dopy grin.   
  
"She was born to fight!" Chichi's eyes turned into slits and she groaned.  
  
"She was not born to fight! She was born to go to college with her brother and become a doctor or a lawyer!"  
  
"Aw…Chichi…" Goku said, the smile disappearing.  
  
"Mom?" Ryoko asked. Chichi looked at her. "Gohan told me that when dad was off fighting, you kept pressuring him to study…but…if they needed him to fight, how would he become a lawyer or whatever if the world was overtaken by evil?" Chichi blinked.  
  
"That doesn't matter. And if you noticed, he always went off, anyway." She said, folding her arms.  
  
"Yeah but-"  
  
"You'd better be off!" She said with a smile. "See you soon!" Gohan and Ryoko were shoved out of the door.  
  
"Bye! Good luck!" Goten cried, waving to his older siblings. Ryoko and Gohan waved back, then leapt into the air, joining Trunks and Videl.  
  
"Do you have the dragon radar?" Ryoko asked. Trunks nodded.  
  
"Then let's go!" Gohan cried. They started flying north, Trunks looking at his radar. It took them about an hour of flying, and they came to a desert. They landed, and Trunks looked confused.  
  
"It should be right here." He said, then looked up at Videl. "Actually, you should be standing on it." Videl looked down, then back at Trunks.  
  
"All I'm standing on is sand." She said with a blank look. A man in a jeep rode up to the four.  
  
"Hey, you kids better be careful. There's a sandstorm coming." He said, driving away. Trunks smirked.  
  
"Of course. The dragon ball must be buried under sand." He said, then looked at the girls. "You might want to back up." He said, so they rose into the air and back up.   
  
Trunks put his fists out, and in a burst of energy, wind flew up from beneath him and spiraled up, mixed with sand, to the sky.  
  
He powered down, leaving Videl and Ryoko in awe, and grabbed the sandy dragon ball. He smiled.  
  
"One down, six to go." He said.  
  
  
"There's one." Ryoko said, landing in the forest and eyeing a dragon ball. A pack of monkeys were crowded around it, one particularly large monkey holding it. Ryoko crept toward it, then grabbed it from the head primate.   
  
The other monkeys 'ood' and 'eed' and jumped on her.  
  
"Get off me!" She cried. Trunks, Gohan, and Videl laughed at her. Ryoko was struggling to get the monkeys off her, and felt ridiculous. One pulled her hair. "Oh that's it." She said, then raised her energy level, sending the monkeys flying into all sorts of directions.  
  
Ryoko jumped into the air, breathing hard.  
  
"Ha, was that hard for you? To knock a few monkeys off you?" Gohan asked, still laughing.  
  
"Shut up!" Ryoko cried, hitting him playfully on the arm. Gohan stopped laughing and ran his finger under his nose. Ryoko handed Trunks the dragon ball, and he put it into his bag.  
  
  
"Tru-u-u-nks.." Ryoko groaned about three days later. "Gohan…"  
  
"What?" Gohan asked.  
  
"I'm tired of sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag!" She cried. "Can we please go to a hotel?"  
  
"I didn't bring any money." Gohan said.  
  
"Me neither." Videl agreed.  
  
"I'll pay for it." Trunks said.  
  
"Gee, you never run out of money, do you?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Well, you don't when you're the richest person in the world." Trunks said with a smirk. Ryoko laughed.  
  
"You look like your father when you do that." She said. Ryoko had met Vegeta one night when Bulma had invited her to dinner, and found that he had the same appetite as the males in her family. Trunks smiled.  
  
They landed at a hotel, and Trunks rented out a large room. They went into it, and Ryoko smiled.  
  
"Wow. A lot better than the ground." She said. There was a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and four bedrooms. Also, in the living room, there was a door leading to a balcony. The rooms had been expensive, and they were all kept very clean.  
  
Ryoko went into a bed room, and jumped on the bed. She lay down, suddenly feeling very tired, and her eyes closed, she drifted to sleep.  
  
  
Ryoko woke in a different room, and sat up. She was in an all-white room, no doors, no windows, and just white eeriness. She suddenly felt a terrible pain in her wrists, and looked at them.  
  
Deep, bloody gashes were going through both of them, and spreading throughout her arms in a spider web pattern. She screamed as her skin fell to the white ground in thick, bloody chunks. She stood up, and watched her blood drip into a large pool at her feet. She fell to her knees, half in shock, half in pain. She felt numb.  
  
But Ryoko was suddenly sitting up in her bed. She still felt a little numb, and she raised her hands in front of her face. Her skin was there, and it was fine. She shuddered at the horrible dream, and suddenly didn't feel safe alone in the darkness.  
  
She looked at the clock, it was twelve thirty two. Ryoko felt like someone was watching her, and watch she didn't know, was that someone always was.  
  
Ryoko got out of the bed, jumping to a far distance near the door as she did when she was a child. She was always afraid that someone was going to grab her leg from under the bed, and the same, childish feeling came back to her.  
  
Ryoko opened the door, slowly. The whole apartment was dark, and Ryoko crept across the floor and slowly opened Trunks' door.  
  
"Ryoko? What's wrong?" Trunks asked, and from the light of the window, Ryoko saw that he sat up. Ryoko closed the door and leaned up against it, suddenly uncomfortable.  
  
"I…I had a bad dream, and I'm scared to be alone." She said, then walked over to his bed and sat next to him. Trunks sighed and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"Okay…I guess it's okay if you stay in here…" Ryoko lay her head down on the extra pillow and pulled the sheets over her. She shuddered again, remembering the dream.   
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"What happened in the dream?" Ryoko shrugged.  
  
"All my skin fell off." She said. "And it felt…real." She rubbed her arm with her other hand. She could feel Trunks wince. "Trunks?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think that…you could train me? So I can be strong like you guys?" She asked.  
  
"Sure." He said. "You should go to sleep, it's late."  
  
8  
  
Videl stretched out on the couch, flicking through the channels. It was about two in the afternoon, and Trunks and Ryoko had left about three hours ago to train. Gohan had fallen asleep on the floor, having nothing else to do.  
  
A phone started to ring, surprising Videl. It was not the phone from the hotel, and the sound drew her to the kitchen table. Ryoko's cell phone was ringing. Videl picked it up.  
  
"…hello?" She asked.  
  
"Uh, hi, is Ryoko there?" A boy asked.  
  
"Um, no, she went out with Trunks." She said. Gohan sat up and rubbed her eye.  
  
"Who is it?" He asked, yawning and stretching his arms into the air.  
  
"Oh…okay…" The boy said. "Can you tell her that Kotori called, and to call me back as soon as she gets back?"  
  
"Sure." Videl said.  
  
"Thanks, bye." He hung up, and Videl pressed the red hang up button on the phone.  
  
"Who was it?" Gohan asked, getting up and walking into the kitchen. He walked to the fridge, and pulled out a piece of chicken and started eating it, cold.  
  
"Kotori." She said. Gohan blinked, then swallowed his large mouthful.  
  
"Really? That's weird."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well…" Gohan started, scratching his head. "They used to be like, best friends. Then after one day during the summer, he didn't talk to her until her birthday. Then he totally avoided her again, even in school. It's weird that he's calling her." Videl nodded, and looked down at the phone.  
  
"He sounded…sad, or something." She said.  
  
  
Ryoko swung another fist at Trunks, and he easily dodged her. She landed back on the ground, breathing hard. She kneeled, and cried out in anger, slamming a fist onto the ground.  
  
"Why am I so weak?!" She cried. Trunks smiled.  
  
"You're strong." He said. "You don't become a Super Saiyan in a day. It's going to take you a while." He extended his hand, Ryoko grabbed it, and he helped her stand up.   
  
"We should get back, now." Ryoko sighed and fell into his arms, exhausted.  
  
"I don't think I have enough energy to fly." She said, her eyes half closed.  
  
"That's okay." He picked her up, and in a matter of minutes, they were walking back into the apartment. Gohan turned around and smiled at them.  
  
"How'd it go?" He asked.  
  
"Good." Trunks said, smiling. Ryoko sat on the couch next to Gohan, feeling less than half awake. Her eyes closed, and her head fell onto Gohan's shoulder.  
  
  
Ryoko woke on the couch of the apartment, around her was silence. She stood, and started calling for her friends.  
  
"Trunks? Gohan, Videl?" She called, nothing but the silence answering her. "Hello?"  
  
"Hey." Ryoko turned around and gasped, Kotori was standing in the doorway of Trunks' room.  
  
"Kotori? How did you get here?" She asked. He shrugged.  
  
"Flew."  
  
"Where is everyone?" Kotori smirked, his teeth showing. An evil look lingered in his usually dancing blue eyes.  
  
"Why don't you look for yourself?" He asked, stepping forward and to the right. Ryoko walked into the doorway, staring at Kotori.  
  
"What do you m-" Ryoko gasped in horror at what lay ahead in Trunks' room, and pure terror struck through her body. Lying on the bed was Trunks' corpse, his sword dug into his chest. The mattress was stained with his blood, his eyes were wide with terror. "What did you do?!" She screamed. "Where's Gohan and Videl?!" She cried, fearing the worst. Suddenly, the closet door open, and two carcasses fell out, her brother and Videl. Ryoko looked at Kotori, tears spilling onto her cheeks. "Why did you do this?!"  
  
Kotori only grinned and grabbed her shoulders, shoving her against the wall. Ryoko struggled to try and free herself, and even with the training that Trunks had given her that day, Kotori was too strong for her. He held her with one hand, and with his free one, he took a knife and slashed her arm. 


	4. click here for even MORE of the story!

Trunks looked at Ryoko, and the three crowded around the couch. She was talking in her sleep.  
  
"Trunks? Gohan? Videl?" She paused. "Hello?"  
  
"Has she ever done this before?" Videl asked. Gohan shrugged.  
  
"She told me once that she used to talk in her sleep." He said.  
  
"Yeah, but her voice sounds…hollow. When someone talks in their sleep, they moan it." Videl said.  
  
"Kotori? How did you get here?" She said. They listened to her, Gohan laughing a little. "Where is everyone?" She had a confused look on her face. "What do you m-" Her face twisted into a look of terror, and Gohan wasn't laughing anymore. "What did you do?!" She screamed. "Where's Gohan and Videl?!" She was crying, and she let out a scream of terror.  
  
"Ryoko! Wake up!" Trunks cried.  
  
"I wonder what she's dreaming about." Videl wondered.  
  
"She was having a bad dream last night, too. That her skin was falling off and she said it felt…real." Trunks said.  
  
"Why did you do this?!" Ryoko screamed, tears rapidly running down her face. Ryoko screamed again, but this time in pain, and her hand grabbed her arm.  
  
"Ryoko!" Trunks cried, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Her eyes snapped open and she screamed, jumping up, still holding her arm.  
  
"Ah!" She screamed. She removed her hand from her arm, and everyone stared in terror at what was there.  
  
There was a gash in her arm, bleeding profusely. Ryoko stared at her hand that was covering it, blood all over it.  
  
Gohan dashed into the bathroom and took out a first aid kit. They cleaned her arm, then rapped it.  
  
"What happened?" Videl asked, worried for her friend.  
  
"I- I had a dream that Kotori killed you all." She said, looking at all of them with wide eyes. "Then he came after me." She groaned. "But he would never do that, he would never harm anyone!" Videl looked at Gohan.  
  
"Kotori had called, right before you came back." Gohan said.  
  
"Do you think Kotori gave you those dreams?" Trunks asked, but Ryoko didn't get to answer. Someone was knocking on the door.  
  
Gohan answered it, and everyone was surprised to see Kotori.  
  
"How did you get here?" Videl asked, her hands on her hips. Kotori blinked.  
  
"I- uh, flew." He said. Ryoko's eyes widened.  
  
"Th-that's what he said…" She started, but they all knew that she didn't have to finish the sentence.  
  
"Ryoko, I need to talk to you." He said. Ryoko shook her head and backed up.  
  
"No, no! Get out of here! Now!" She cried.  
  
"What?" Kotori asked, acting innocent.  
  
Ryoko suddenly doubled over, grabbing her head and moaning.  
  
"Ryoko?" Trunks asked, kneeling next to her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"My head…ah!" She cried.  
  
"Look out!" Gohan cried, jumping in front of everyone. A large energy blast went through the wall and hit Gohan, sending him through the opposite wall and outside.  
  
"Gohan!" Videl and Trunks cried. Ryoko lifted her head, and looked at the figure standing before them.  
  
"I have finally found you, Ryoko."  
  
9  
  
"Who are you?!" Trunks cried, his arms protectively around Ryoko. The attacker's skin was red, and he had two horns on the top of his head. He was wearing blue pants and a white cape, and had a black mustache.  
  
He stuck out his hand, attempting to shoot another blast, but Trunks (holding onto Ryoko), Videl, and Kotori jumped out of the hole in the wall and joined Gohan in the air. The invader flew out and stood in front of them. He put a hand onto his chest and smiled evilly.  
  
"I am Deborah, the Demon King." He said. "I have been sent here to see you, Ryoko."   
  
Ryoko had recovered from her attack, and was floating next to Trunks.  
  
"What do you want?" Ryoko asked. He grinned.  
  
"You." He said, and then looked offended. "Don't tell me you have forgotten me?" He chuckled. "Well, then I'll make you remember." He sent a chi blast at Gohan, and he went crashing into the ground.  
  
"Gohan!" Ryoko and Videl cried. Videl dashed to his side. Trunks clenched a fist and flew at Deborah. Deborah grabbed a sword out of thin air, and Trunks flew right into it. His jaw dropped, and a small trickle of blood escaped it, the sword embedded into his stomach. Ryoko's eyes widened and filled with tears.  
  
"Trunks!" She screamed. Trunks fell to the ground. Ryoko and Kotori were left in the air alone. "You monster!" Ryoko cried, she couldn't feel Trunks' life energy anymore.   
  
She started screaming madly, uncontrollably. All the pain that she had ever felt was coming back to her, and her energy level went higher and higher.  
  
Her screams ceased when a golden aura surrounded her, her hair golden blonde. Deborah frowned.  
  
"I thought you were finally transforming." He said. "But you've only become a super saiyan. How boring." Ryoko flew at the demon king, and bombarded him with kicks and punches, missing every time.  
  
"Ryoko!" She stopped and turned around, seeing her father.  
  
"D-dad!" She cried. He threw her a bag filled with something.  
  
"Give that to Gohan and Trunks, and then get out of here!" Goku cried.  
  
"But- but we don't have all the dragon balls yet!" She cried.  
  
"Leave them behind, I'll get the rest." He said. "No go!" Ryoko flew down to Trunks, and suddenly felt sick. She was never good with blood. She grinned when she saw that he was still breathing. He was sweating, and he looked like he wasn't going to last much longer.  
  
She winced, and then pulled out the sword. Trunks groaned. She reached into the bag and smiled, senzu beans.  
  
She gave one to Trunks, then to Gohan. They stood up, fully revamped. Ryoko smiled.  
  
"GO!" Goku screamed. The teenagers, nodded, and took off into the air. A confused Kotori followed. Ryoko turned back to normal, not feeling too excited that she finally became a super saiyan.  
  
"What did he mean, did I forget him?" She asked. They shrugged.  
  
10  
  
When Ryoko got home, she was feeling very tired. She hated sleeping, now. She avoided all questions from her family, letting Gohan answer them. She fell onto the living room couch, and fell asleep.  
  
  
Ryoko woke to a terrible, electrocuting pain in her stomach.  
  
The sword sent waves of electricity into Ryoko causing her body to jolt violently as Ryoko's eyes flung open and she sat up. She was in too much torture and to scream, but her mouth hung open in a silent one…the wound that the sword had created began to bleed profusely…as Ryoko gaped in confusion and shock at who had done this to her…  
  
  
  
"Huh? What's going on?" Gohan said as he rubbed his eyes sleepily and was bewildered when he turned to see Ryoko. He had fallen asleep in the living room with her to make sure she didn't have any terrible dreams. She was sitting up, a sword embedded in her stomach, blood gushing from her wound, as waves of electricity were coursing through her. Her expression revealed the pain she was in, but Gohan wasn't sure what Ryoko was starring at, there was nothing in front of her.  
  
Gohan jumped up and started calling for their parents.  
  
"MOM! DAD! COME QUICK!" He yelled. His parents came down the stairs, and Chichi gasped loudly, seeing her daughter in such pain, she fainted.  
  
"Ryoko!" Goku cried, running to her side. He was afraid to touch her, afraid that he would get electrocuted.  
  
"Don't pull it out!" Gohan cried.  
  
"But she's getting electrocuted!"  
  
"If you do, she'll bleed to death!" Goku pressed her teeth together and groaned, not sure what to do.  
  
"What's going on?" Asked a sleepy Goten, walking in. He was fully awake when he saw his sister. "Ryoko! What's happening to her?!"  
  
"Go get Bulma!" Goku yelled to Gohan. Gohan jumped up and ran out of the house.  
  
  
Trunks awoke to screaming and pounding on the door. He got up, his mother and father also up.  
  
"Who is making that blasted noise?!" Vegeta yelled.  
  
"It's- Gohan." Trunks said.  
  
"Please! Bulma! Help!" Gohan cried, pounding on the door. "It's Ryoko!" Bulma and Trunks dashed to the front door. Gohan was standing there, shaking, and eyes wide.   
  
"Please, Bulma, we need your help."  
  
Bulma nodded and followed the boy back to his house, Trunks with him. Vegeta strolled after them, curious to see what all the commotion was.  
  
"What happened?" Trunks asked. Gohan shook his head.  
  
"We don't know." Gohan said. "I think she's dying." Trunks' eyes widened. They ran into the house, and into the living room. They stepped over an unconscious Chichi.  
  
"Oh my God." Bulma said. Goku was standing over Ryoko.  
  
"Bulma, what do we do?!" Goku cried. Bulma ran to her.  
  
"Take out the sword, then we must quickly fly her to Capsule Corporation." She said.   
  
Goku nodded, then pulled out the sword. Ryoko screamed, but it came out in a gurgle, blood coming out of her mouth and flowing down onto her shirt. Goku grabbed onto her and Bulma, getting ready to do instant transmission. Gohan, Goten, and Trunks also grabbed on, and within a matter of seconds, they were standing in front of Trunks' grandparents.  
  
"Oh, my!" Mrs. Brief cried, seeing the bloody mess of Ryoko. Goku held her in his arms, and ran after Bulma who was racing to her lab.  
  
"Lay her on this table." Bulma commanded, throwing off random things that had been placed there previously. Goku laid her down as gently as he could.   
  
Ryoko's body was cold, and she was sweating. "She's coming down with a fever, she's lost a lot of blood." Ryoko groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. She was shaking. Bulma looked at Trunks and Gohan.  
  
"You two had better get out of here." Bulma said. "This is going to get messy." Trunks shook his head.  
  
"No, I'm not leaving." He said.  
  
"Get out now! You'll only distract me!" She put on a pair of gloves, and Trunks didn't move. "It's going to be okay, honey, you'll be alright." Bulma looked at Goku. "A piece of the sword is still inside her stomach." Goku looked on helplessly as Bulma used her tools to take out the small piece of sword left inside her stomach. She grabbed a cloth and put it on Ryoko's stomach, then opened a draw and pulled out another cloth, and wrapped it around Ryoko. Her eyes closed, and her breathing was heavy.  
  
"We need a blood donor." Bulma said. "It has to be either Gohan, Goten, or Trunks, a half saiyan."  
  
"I'll do it." Gohan said. "I'm her brother." Bulma nodded.  
  
"Me, too." Trunks said. "She needs a lot." Bulma nodded again.  
  
Bulma went into another drawer and pulled out two needles. Gohan and Trunks extended their arms, and Bulma took blood from Gohan first. She injected it into Ryoko, then did the same with Trunks. She stepped away from her, and threw the needles away.  
  
"We should leave her alone, now." Bulma said.  
  
"No." Trunks said. "What if she has a bad dream again?"  
  
"Trunks is right." Gohan said. Bulma shook her head.  
  
"Someone doesn't get a sword in their stomach from a dream." She said. "Someone attacked her." Goku moaned and walked out of the room, they stared at the door for a moment, but then Trunks looked at Gohan, then they both looked at Bulma.  
  
"Bulma…" Gohan started. "When we were looking for the dragon balls, Ryoko had a bad dream that her friend attacked her. We were all standing over her, and a cut appeared on her arm out of nowhere." Bulma looked at Ryoko.  
  
"Well, someone's got to be doing this to her." She sighed. "You're right, someone should stay in here at all times. That attack almost killed her. She's not as strong as you all are." She turned around and grabbed an elastic from a counter and tide her hair back.  
  
  
Goku looked up at the sky and took a deep breath in. He closed his eyes.  
  
"Kai…why did you choose her?" He asked no one. He opened his eyes. His eyes reduced to slits. "Leave her alone, Ryuukaze."  
  
  
"What are you doing?" Gohan asked. Bulma was sticking all kinds of wires to Ryoko's head.  
  
"Monitoring her brain waves." Bulma said. "Maybe something is taking her ethereal body to another dimension and hurting her there. With this, I can see what's happening to her." She turned to her computer and started typing. Symbols, numbers, and letters appeared on the screen.  
  
"I'll take the first watch." Trunks said.  
  
"And I'll keep you company." Gohan said, smiling at Trunks. Trunks smiled back.  
  
"You go sleep, mom." Trunks said. Bulma nodded.  
  
"If this starts beeping, get me." Trunks and Gohan nodded as Bulma walked out of the lab.  
  
"What do you think is going on?" Gohan asked. Trunks shrugged.  
  
"I'm guessing that that guy that attacked us has some kind of psychic power and is attacking Ryoko in dreams." Trunks responded.  
  
"But why Ryoko?" Gohan asked wearily. Trunks again shrugged.  
  
Ryoko immediately recognized the room as the living room. Someone was sitting in a chair, their back to her and facing the wall. She recognized him as Trunks, and started walking over to him. He stood up, and revealed a horrifying sight.  
  
The front of his muscle shirt was torn, and half of his face's skin was missing. He was coughing up blood, which was spilling down onto his chest. His chest's skin was bubbling and melting away, revealing his ribs and lungs. He coughed, his ribs rattling.  
  
Ryoko stood, transfixed from fright, as Trunks came toward her with a clawed, bone hand. His claw grabbed her throat, and started tearing it, ripping away her skin, exposing her trachea and other internal throat organs.  
  
  
"Gohan, go get my mom." Trunks said, the computer beeping loudly. Gohan ran out of the room, and Trunks stood by Ryoko's side.  
  
Soon, Gohan, Bulma, and Goku ran into the room, and all four of them stared in horror at Ryoko. Her neck was starting to bleed, and her skin was being ripped out, and she cried out, "Trunks?! What are you doing?!"  
  
"Ryoko, wake up!" Bulma screamed. Ryokos eyes opened, and she looked at all of them. Her neck was only bleeding slightly.  
  
Bulma wrapped her neck up, and then sighed.  
  
"This needs to stop." She said.  
  
"Ryoko? Are you okay?" Goku asked. Ryoko nodded.  
  
"My stomach doesn't hurt anymore." She said in amazement.  
  
"Of course it doesn't." Everyone turned to the doorway to see Vegeta leaning against the frame. "You're a saiyan. Wounds as bad as those heal quickly."  
  
"Well, that's a relief." Bulma said. Ryoko put her hand to her throat.  
  
"In my dream, Trunks was ripping my throat out." She said tonelessly. "And when I woke up, my neck was bleeding."  
  
"Did you have a dream that you were being stabbed?" Gohan asked. Ryoko shrugged.  
  
"Kind of. I woke up and saw my dad…standing in front of me." She said, shaking her head. Goku frowned.  
  
11  
  
Two months passed, and the dreams had been going on steadily. Not as bad as a sword in her stomach, but pretty bad. She'd wake up with all kinds of gashes and wounds all over her body.  
  
Presently, Ryoko was at the Satan High School dance. The dance had just started about a half an hour ago, and Ryoko was talking to a couple of her friends, Trunks standing shyly behind her. Because of Trunks shyness, he had not managed to get to meet many of the students at SCS, and Ryoko, Gohan, and Videl were his only real friends. But tonight, all the males in Ryoko's family had gone off on some training thing for the weekend, and her mother was visiting relatives. Ryoko was sad that her brother wasn't attending the first dance, but she soon got over it.  
  
Standing in the shadows behind Ryoko and the giggling girls, Ryoko noticed that Trunks' eyes were on someone in front of her. She looked, and saw Kotori and some other boys coming towards them, some of the most popular boys in the school.  
  
"You give it to him!" One whispered to Kotori. Kotori was holding a large box, and he was trying to suppress a smile.  
  
"Here you go, Trunks. Since we all missed your birthday." Kotori said. The other boys were laughing. Ryoko eyed them, knowing that they were up to something. Trunks didn't seem to notice, seeming as he had just recently started high school and did not know the cruelty of some students.  
  
"Uh, thank you." Trunks muttered, blushing lightly. Ryoko stood close to Trunks, eager to see what his gift was. He started to unwrap it, slowly. He pulled off the wrapping paper, then opened the box and his face turned bright red, along with Ryoko's. The other boys only laughed.  
  
Inside the box was all sorts of things that would make anyone turn red. Bad magazines, objects, pictures… Also, there was a paper that read 'have fun with Ryoko!'   
  
Ryoko was embarrassed, but also very upset with Kotori, who was cracking up.  
  
Trunks closed the box and put it in the garbage, and walked out of the auditorium and into the men's bathroom.  
  
"Ha! Did you see him blush?!" One of the boys cried. Ryoko, infuriated, grabbed Kotori by the ear and pulled him outside. The cold air made Ryoko's face feel hot, and she suddenly became aware of the light, making her wounds visible.  
  
"Aw, you have to admit, that was funny!" Kotori cried.  
  
"No it was not!" Ryoko screamed. Kotori winced, and his laughter ceased. "Why did you do something like that?! You knew it would upset Trunks!"  
  
"Yeah, so?" Kotori asked, bravado written clearly all over his face.  
  
"Kotori, we have gotten in some stupid fights over the years. But this one you purposely hurt Trunks, and you hurt me, too." She sighed. "I thought you were my friend, but I guess not." She turned to leave, but Kotori grabbed her arm.  
  
"Wait, I'm sorry."  
  
"Why did you do it?" She asked, looking at him. Kotori and some of the other boys had teased Trunks sometimes during school, but never this bad. Kotori looked at his feet, his face engulfed in shadow.  
  
"I was…"  
  
"You were what?" Ryoko spat. Kotori looked at her and blushed a little.  
  
"I was…jealous, okay?" He asked. Ryoko blinked, her face the normal, tan color, and it softened.  
  
"What do you mean?" She asked her voice weak and trembling.  
  
"I'm jealous of your boyfriend, Ryoko." He said sternly.  
  
"You…mean you…?"  
  
"Yeah, I love you." He said, his eyes dropping to the side.  
  
"Kotori…I loved you for so many years, why didn't you ever tell me?" Ryoko cried out, holding back fighting tears.  
  
"Because I always thought that you were better than me!" He cried. "I've been waiting for someone like Trunks to come along so that you'd fall in love with him and then maybe when you had someone, I'd stop caring about you!" He shook his head, "but it's even harder, now. It's hard for me to see you and Trunks together all the time, and the worst thing is, you're so perfect together."  
  
"Aw…Kotori…" Ryoko moaned. She was saddened that he had loved her all along, yet happy that he never told her because she found someone as perfect as Trunks.  
  
"I waited too long to tell you…" He said, tears filling his eyes. He jumped into the air. "At least you're happy; you'd have Trunks any day rather than me." He flew away, leaving her alone to cry.  
  
12  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Ryoko went back into the gym, only to find that Trunks was still hiding in the bathroom. She didn't feel like facing the people in the gym, so she stood at the bathroom door, and tapped lightly.  
  
"Trunks…" She said quietly, her voice cracked from crying. He didn't answer. "Come on, let's go home." The door opened slowly, and a still red Trunks came out. He went through the door and quickly took into the sky, Ryoko soon following. She stopped about halfway to their houses. Trunks stopped next to her. The tears were crawling back to her eyes, not just because Kotori had loved her all along, but because she knew what he was feeling, how much pain her was in, because Ryoko had felt that pain all of her life.  
  
"What's wrong?" Trunks asked quietly. Ryoko started to sob again, and a surprised Trunks wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. "Ryoko?" Ryoko looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. He sighed. "I don't know if this is why you're crying, but I know how to stop the dreams, or at least help."  
  
"How?" Ryoko asked. He shook his head.  
  
"I'll explain later. Come on, let's go to your house." Still holding her, Trunks flew them back to her house.  
  
When they got there, they went into the house. Trunks closed and locked the door, and turned to Ryoko.  
  
"It's called a saiyan bond. In it, we are totally connected, which means we can read each others minds, memories, and be in each others dreams." He said with a smirk. Ryoko smiled, in spite of all that had happened that night. He again blushed a little; his face had gone back to the normal color when they first arrived. "But…to obtain it…you have to…well…" He turned even deeper red, and Ryoko also blushed a little, but shook her head.  
  
"Don't say it, you'll pass out from blushing so much." She said. Trunks nodded, still blushing.  
  
"Do…you…want to? I mean, so the dreams will go away, or I can be there to help you." He said nervously. Ryoko laughed lightly.  
  
"Well…yeah. Who knows what could happen in one of those dreams. I woke up with a sword in my stomach…and I almost had my throat ripped out." She said. He nodded, and then gulped.  
  
  
13  
  
Ryoko opened her eyes, seeing that she was in some kind of room which was made of all mirrors. A mirrored ceiling, walls, and floor. It was different than what she had ever dreamed before.  
  
"It this it?" Trunks asked, and Ryoko was surprised to see that he was standing next to her, normal. She smiled when she remembered the saiyan link.  
  
"No. It's usually in a different place every time. This room could change into something else, or something will happen here." She said. It was a little scary, seeing herself all over the room. A sharp pain ran up her wrists, and was shocked to see that they were opened again, blood pouring out. She was breathing heavily, and hoping that the gashes wouldn't spread through her body again.  
  
"What?" Trunks asked, seeing the horrified look on Ryoko's face, but then a horrific expression also spread onto his face, along with pain. Ryoko looked down at his leg. From the knee down, his left pant leg was being ripped off, and then fell to the floor. A very deep, blood gash was spreading down it, exposing his bone. Ryoko winced, and felt like she was going to vomit.  
  
Trunks gasped loudly as the bone was ripped out of his leg. He fell, and a pool of blood started spreading across the mirror.  
  
"Trunks!" Ryoko cried, running to and kneeling beside him. She held her wrist, which didn't seem half as bad as Trunks' leg. He groaned loudly. "Oh, Dende, I hope you don't wake up without a shin bone." He groaned again.  
  
Laughter echoed across the room, and Ryoko stood up. She knew that Trunks was defenseless right now, so she was on her own to protect herself and him. She looked around the room, and didn't see anyone.  
  
  
  
The next thing that Trunks knew, he was in a forest, alone, and with a shin bone. He was standing up, but out of relief, he sat down on the ground and sighed.  
  
"This is what Ryoko has been dealing with? Man…" He said, and then looked around. "Ryoko?" He called. Trunks continued crying Ryoko's name as he searched for her. As he walked forward, he noticed a man, leaning against a tree. What's that guy doing out here in the middle of nowhere?  
  
"That's specifically what I was going to ask you..." Said the teal haired man, with a glint in his yellow eyes.  
  
"What?! How...you...you read my mind?" Shouted Trunks, but then his voice turned into a mock. "I guess if you can read minds, you don't have to ask me what I'm doing out here then!"  
  
"That's true. Looking for the woman that you love?" The man smiled.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you want her back, Trunks?"  
  
"If you've taken her, I swear I'll...." The man shook his head.  
  
"I haven't taken her." He stepped aside, and Ryoko fell forward, as if she was inside the tree. She stood up, and then rubbed her head. She saw the man, and jumped up and stood next to Trunks. "See? I won't take her, I'll kill her."  
  
"Not while I'm around." Trunks said. The man laughed.  
  
"You can't do much without a bone." He said, and with a wave of his hand, Trunks fell, his shin bone gone again. The man laughed. "Come on, Ryoko, try and make me sorry."  
  
Ryoko lifted her hands and put them together, entwining her fingers, and then pointed them at the man, "Baad Angarru!" She cried, the chi blast that she had created on her own. A pink blast rushed toward him, and he laughed. Ryoko did the same technique again, but as a super saiyan.  
  
"Come on, Ryoko! You know that you have more power than that." He said. "Fine, I'll let you wake up." A small smirk spread across his face. "See you tomorrow."  
  
  
  
Ryoko quickly sat up, in her room again. She was breathing heavily, and looked at Trunks. His eyes were also open, and he was examining his leg.  
  
"It hurts, but its fine." He stated. Ryoko smiled. That's good, she thought. "Yeah, I know."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You just said 'that's good'." He said, looking at her blankly. She blinked, and then laughed.  
  
"The bond. That's why you heard what I just thought." She said, and then realized how different things felt. She felt like her and Trunks were…one person, had one mind. She could feel what he was feeling, hear what he was thinking.  
  
"Wow, it's weird." Trunks said, looking around as if to see something differently. He lay down again, putting his arms behind his head. Ryoko looked out the window, and saw that the sun was just rising. Ryoko looked at him, and only then did she understand how truly awful his past was, now seeing it through his eyes. His father and all of his friend dying, seeing his world be torn apart, and seeing his best friend and master, dead.  
  
Ryoko shook her head, as if trying to shake away the memories. She lay down, and fell back to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
Ryoko woke again to the sound of the phone ringing, and picked it up.  
  
"…hello?" She asked groggily.  
  
"Hi…" Ryoko groaned.  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're not coming over today…"  
  
"Why not?" Mai asked.  
  
"Because I'm tired!" Ryoko cried.  
  
"Please? I'll come over later! I haven't seen you in a long time!" Ryoko sighed, and looked at the clock.  
  
"Whoa! It's one in the afternoon!" Ryoko cried. "Uh, Mai, come at like, two. Bye." Ryoko hung up and jumped out of bed. Trunks sat up and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"What?" He asked. Ryoko opened her drawer and started pulling out clothes. Trunks blushed deeply; Ryoko still didn't have anything on. She didn't need to tell him what was wrong, because Trunks quickly understood that the day was Sunday and her parents and brothers were to be home at one thirty.  
  
Trunks also jumped up and started pulling on clothes, and Ryoko, fully dressed, was doing her hair. When she finished, Trunks pulled on his last boot and sighed.  
  
"You'd better go." Ryoko said. Trunks nodded, standing up. Ryoko smiled and hugged him. "Thanks, Trunks. For being there." He smiled and nodded, hugging her back.  
  
"No problem." He said. Ryoko kissed him lightly and quickly, then they said their goodbyes and he left.  
  
15  
  
Ryoko sat down on her front lawn and sighed loudly. Of course, Mai had arrived around one fifteen, and Ryoko was waiting for her parents to come home.  
  
"Can we go to Gohan's today?" Mai asked, sitting down next to Ryoko. Ryoko looked at her, and then laughed.  
  
"You don't know, do you?" She asked, amusement clearly heard in her voice. Mai looked back at her.  
  
"Know what?" Before Ryoko could answer, her father and brothers landed on the front lawn in front of the girls. Mai surprised, leaned back and supported herself with her hands.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko." Goku said happily. "Have a good weekend?"  
  
"Yup." Ryoko said, smiling.  
  
"Hi, Mai." Gohan said. "Are you sleeping over tonight?" Mai nodded. "Cool." Gohan, Goten, and Goku went into the house.  
  
"What's going on?" Mai asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Well, at my birthday party, I found out that Goku and Chichi were my real parents, so they moved into my house with me that day and my other parents…um, I think they moved to Italy." Ryoko said like it was no big deal. Mai's jaw dropped.  
  
"You mean you live with Gohan?" Mai asked. Ryoko nodded.  
  
"Yup, he's my brother." She said. "We're twins."  
  
"That's not fair! I wanna live with Gohan!" Mai cried. "What else happened?! You haven't called me in such a long time!"  
  
"Well…you already know that Trunks and I are together." Mai sighed angrily and nodded. "Well, I found out that Kotori has loved me for who knows how long." Ryoko said a bit more quietly. Mai sighed and threw up her arms.  
  
"Of course! You live with Gohan, Trunks is your boyfriend, and Kotori likes you! Can your life get any better?!" She cried. Ryoko looked at the sky and laughed lightly.  
  
"My life isn't as great as you think." She said. Mai gave her a blank stare.  
  
"Oh really? How?" She asked. Ryoko stood up and pulled her shirt up a little bit, revealing a deep gash, which had already had started to heal but still looked pretty gruesome. "How did you get that?!" Ryoko sat back down and told Mai everything, about how she was a saiyan, how Trunks was the future, how Mr. Satan never really saved the Earth, how her brother did, and all the other things, and told her lastly about the dreams.  
  
"So that's how my life isn't so great." Ryoko said. Mai stared at her, not sure if she believed her friend. But Ryoko proved that it was true by showing Mai the Baad Angarru, and then she believed her.  
  
"I still can't believe that you live with Gohan." She said. "I didn't bring pretty pajamas!" Ryoko chuckled.  
  
"You won't need pajamas after I'm through with you." Said a voice from above them. Ryoko jumped up and looked at the sky, seeing the man that had attacked Trunks and her in the dream. The man had dark, olive green skin and a black hairstyle that looked similar to a mow hawk, and was wearing some kind of old, layered clothing.  
  
"Who are you?" Ryoko cried, more quietly than she intended. She was terrified, now seeing that man in real life.  
  
"Who am I? Have you forgotten?"  
  
"Deborah?"  
  
"Do I look like that weakling?" He asked. Ryoko stepped back, which was useless since the man was in the sky. Gohan, Goten, and Goku ran out.  
  
"Ryuukaze!" Goku cried. 'Ryuukaze' laughed.  
  
"So, at least you know me, Goku." He said. Vegeta and the two Trunks also came out.  
  
"What's going on here?" Vegeta asked.  
  
"Come on, Goku, fight me! Protect your daughter!" Ryuukaze cried. Goku stood still. "Fine, then I'll just kill her now." Ryuukaze extended his hand, and a large amount of energy starting flying at Ryoko, but before it even came close to her, a Super Saiyan level one was blocking the attack, completely unharmed. "Oh good, one down, three to go."  
  
"Trunks!" Goku cried, turning towards them. "Take Ryoko in the back yard, and hold her back!" He screamed. Trunks nodded, and pulled Ryoko into the back. "You too, Vegeta!"  
  
Vegeta, feeling Goku's new awesome powers, grunted and followed his son, Gohan, Goten, and a crying Mai. All Vegeta had on his mind was wondering how Goku was so strong if he was only in the first super saiyan stage. Ryoko seemed kind of in a daze, staring forward at nothing.  
  
When they were all back there, a normal Goku landed, breaking Ryoko's daze.  
  
"Where did that guy go?" She asked. Her father sighed.  
  
"He said that he was going to be back." Goku said.  
  
"Kakarott, what did you do?" Vegeta asked. "Tell me now!"  
  
"You're so rude!" Mai cried, calming down.  
  
"I'm not rude." Vegeta said. "It's just that you're insignificant." Mai pouted and folded her arms. Vegeta grabbed Ryoko away from Trunks and held a hand to her head. "Show me now or I'll blast this girls' brains out!" Goku groaned, but nodded.  
  
"I will, but Trunks, like I said, hold her and do not let her go." Goku looked at Trunks, then Gohan. "No, never mind, Gohan, you hold her."  
  
"But dad-"  
  
"Do as I say, son." Goku said, seriously. Gohan nodded and grabbed his sister. Goku sighed, and then turned into a super saiyan. Actually, it was exactly the same as a super saiyan, except on his forehead, he had a golden headpiece with three jewels in it, and lightly there were some symbols engraved into it.  
  
"What the hell is on your head?" Mai asked, a bit amused. Ryoko had the same, blank, dazed look on her face, and her eyes looked hollow.  
  
"Gohan, let me go, I'm fine." She said, a little tonelessly.  
  
"But dad said to hold you…" Gohan said, confused.  
  
"I said let me go!" She screamed, and Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, and Mai were knocked back with her increasing energy. Ryoko stood, and then looked back at the four. "Oh, um, sorry." She said, and Gohan got the idea that she really wasn't. Trunks' face hardened.  
  
"You're not Ryoko." He said. Ryoko laughed.  
  
"My, my, how did you know?" She asked. Goku groaned.  
  
"Oh no…" He murmured.   
  
The girl who was not Ryoko looked around, and sighed, looking weak. She gave a slight smirk to Goku, then fell to her knees, and soon after, the ground. Color returned to her face. Trunks and Gohan approached her cautiously, then deciding that it was her again, lifted her off of the ground. Goku returned to normal.  
  
"Let's bring her to Capsule Corp., we're not safe here." Goku said. "We'll use instant transmission." Gohan and Trunks nodded, putting a hand on Goku's shoulders. "Come on, Mai." Mai ran over and put her hand slowly onto the space between Goku's shoulder and neck.  
  
"What did I get myself into…?" She asked herself angrily.  
  
"You coming, Vegeta?" Goku asked. Vegeta snorted.  
  
"I can fly on my own, Kakarott." He spat. Goku smiled and nodded.  
  
"Suit yourself." He said, then they disappeared. 


	5. wow, click here for even more more of th...

A raspy scream echoed through Capsule Corporation, and everyone rushed to where Krilan had gone. They stood, transfixed, in the doorway, staring at Ryoko.  
  
Ryoko was floating in the air above a pale, unmoving Krilan. She had a light in her hands, and it disappeared. Ryoko started laughing.  
  
"Krilan!" Goku cried.  
  
"Daddy!" Marron shrieked, and ran towards her father, 18 close behind.  
  
"Krilan!" 18 cried, then angrily looked up at Ryoko when Krilan didn't respond. Ryoko was only a super saiyan, and that meant that 18 was far more powerful than her. She jumped into the air, getting ready to attack Ryoko.  
  
Ryoko only grinned and before 18 reached her, she started screaming, her body seaming to have red electricity flowing around it. She landed on the ground next to her husband. Ryoko eyed Trunks and Vegeta and grinned again.  
  
"The time has come." She said. Purple energy surrounded her, then spread, making Capsule Corp. deteriorate until there was nothing left but rubble. Gasps that turned into yelling came from Bulma, and whimpering came from Mai, who was hiding behind Gohan.  
  
"Ryoko! What did you do to my house?!" Bulma screamed. Ryoko only laughed, then transformed into a taller, purple haired girl with purple eyes.  
  
"I am no longer Ryoko." She said. "My name is Ceres."  
  
"Ceres?" Everyone murmured, except Goku.  
  
"You do not belong here, Ceres." Goku said. Ceres only laughed.  
  
"Kakarott!" Vegeta cried, stepping forward. "I demand to know what is going on!"  
  
"What's the big deal, Goku?" Ceres asked. Goku sighed.  
  
"At the beginning of time," he started, "there was a immense battle that took place. It was pure evil against the good, and the Kai's were weak. It was desperate times, so the Supreme Kai created someone that is known as The Guardian, someone with stronger power than that of the Ryuukazes'. They fought, and in the end, the Guardian died, giving all of her power up to imprison the six Ryuukaze."  
  
"And so I was created." Ceres said. "In case that Ryuukaze should ever become loose. So here I am."  
  
"Supreme Kai knew that Ryuukaze would be coming back." Goku continued. "So he had Chichi and I have Ryoko, along with Gohan. Ryoko was born for the soul purpose to reserve a body for Ceres, until the time came that Ceres would be needed." Goku glared at Ceres. "But you are not needed, you are not the true guardian!"  
  
"And you are?" Ceres asked in a mocking tone.  
  
"I'm about as strong as you are." Goku said. "You're at the same level as I."  
  
"What does that mean?" Piccolo asked.  
  
"A Guardian could only come out of Other World if a Ryuukaze was present, and so other terrible things occurred on Earth in that time." Goku stated.  
  
"Why couldn't The Guardian come out?" Tien asked.  
  
"Because as long as Ryuukaze wasn't terrorizing the Earth, there was always hope." Goku said. "That's why I am able to transform into a Guardian. I am known as the Guardian of the Earth." He looked at Trunks and Vegeta. "In Trunks' world, I was long dead. So there was no Earth Guardian, and so Trunks became it." Trunks' eyes widened. "And Vegeta is the Guardian of saiyans, even though there are not many left. We may be Guardians, but our power is no match to the real one." Goku looked back at Ceres. "But like I said, you are not the true Guardian!" She laughed.  
  
"Then who, might I ask, might it be?" She asked, then shook her head. "No, never mind. That's a silly question. Why am I not the Guardian, pray tell?"  
  
"Because you cannot produce the purity chalice." Goku answered. Ceres laughed again.  
  
"You do not need a Purity Chalice to have ultimate strength."  
  
"Purity Chalice?" Trunks asked. No one was noticing that someone's chi was fading quickly.  
  
"A Purity Chalice means you have one of the purest hearts in existence." Goku said. "As we Guardians have. When I first transformed for Vegeta, I told Gohan to hold back Ryoko instead of Trunks. Since you two have not found your Purity Chalice, you are vulnerable and someone could take it from you and have access to your power." Ceres started laughing.  
  
"Ah, wonderful." She said. "This body is all mine now. Too bad you couldn't say goodbye to your precious Ryoko." Everyone's eyes widened and their jaw dropped.  
  
"Ryoko!" Trunks cried, not believing that she was actually gone. But now he realized, he could not feel her chi or her herself through the bond.  
  
"I'm back!" Everyone turned around to see a grinning Ryuukaze.  
  
"Who is he?" Vegeta asked angrily.  
  
"Ryuukaze is the opposite of the Kai's." Goku said. "The Kai's are like the gods, and the Ryuukaze's the evil. Everything has a balance, and they balance out the good, the light."  
  
"I-is Ryoko really gone?" Bulma asked.  
  
"She can't be!" Trunks yelled.  
  
"This isn't the time!" Goku yelled back, making Trunks and Bulma cringe.  
  
"Now…" Ceres started. "Time for me to take your Purity Chalices." Trunks and Vegeta stood still, and after a few steps, Ceres stood transfixed in her tracks. She groaned and leaned forward a little, holding her head. She was breathing heavily, and it seemed like she was talking to herself.  
  
"What's going on?" Trunks asked.  
  
"It-it seems that Ryoko and Ceres are fighting for the body." Goku said, not as amazed as the others.  
  
"No! Ryoko, you are not needed!" Ceres cried. "You were only born into this world so that I would be able to have a physical body! Now go so I can steal your friends' energy and defeat the Ryuukaze!"  
  
"No, I won't!" Cried out Ryoko's voice from Ceres' mouth. "I won't let you do it! You are not a true Guardian and never will be!" Ceres screamed out, her voice again, and then started disappearing, and a new body took place. Ryoko was standing in Ceres' place, wearing different clothes. She was wearing long, flaired, thin white pants and a white tube top, and the same golden headpiece as her father.  
  
"Glad to have you back, Ryoko." Goku said. Ryoko smiled and nodded.  
  
"You know what I have to do," she said. Goku now nodded. "Take care of things, will you?"  
  
"Yeah, of course." Goku said.  
  
"What's going on?" Trunks asked. Ryoko sighed and walked over to him, her long, black hair behind her, oddly, it was down. Ryoko hardly ever wore her hair down.  
  
"Trunks…" She said, and then looked to the side. "To get my body back and with my power, I only have enough energy left to defeat the North Ryuukaze," she paused. "I'm going to give the rest of my energy up, and I will die." Trunks' eyes widened.  
  
"What?! No!" He cried. "You can't!"  
  
"I have to." She said. "When I fought the first battle millions of years ago with Supreme Ryuukaze, everyone thought I was dead. But I wasn't, and now it's my time to give up my life to defeat one of them."  
  
"You- You're the Guardian?" Trunks asked. Ryoko nodded. She took a step back, and Trunks took one forward, but only to find that he couldn't walk any longer, Ryoko had put up an energy shield.  
  
"I don't want you to get in the way, you're not even a Guardian yet, you might get killed and I won't have that." She said, smiling. "See you in the next life."  
  
"Ryoko!" Trunks cried, tears filling his eyes as Ryoko walked toward her doom.  
  
17  
  
"Ryoko!" Trunks desperately screamed, tears overflowing his eyes. Soon, Gohan and Goten were joining him in pounding on the shield, yelling their sisters' name.  
  
"Here we are again, Ryoko." Ryuukaze said. Ryoko smirked.  
  
"Yup, here we are." She replied.  
  
"Just like all those years ago…" He laughed. "You thought you beat us, but you didn't! You never will, face it, Guardian."  
  
"It's over, Ryuukaze."  
  
"Let's just see." Both let out a large energy blast, Ryuukaze's black and Ryoko's pink. They met in the center of them, and didn't move any more. It seemed that Ryoko and Ryuukaze had the same amount of energy, even if Ryoko was weakened. And Ryoko was still weakening; Trunks could see it in her face. She was tired and loosing energy fast. She was going to die soon, and there was nothing that Trunks could do about it.  
  
Trunks cried out in agony and sadness, and fell to his knees. Goku was standing silently behind him. Pictures of a spider-web like pattern spreading across Ryoko's skin as her skin fell off ran through Trunks' mind, also other dreams that Ryoko had. Being murdered was no dream, now, it was reality. Trunks saw Ryoko being engulfed in the black energy, and screamed one last time, louder than any other scream that he could remember.  
  
He suddenly felt his hair standing up, and his chi rising by leaps and bounds. Something cold and hard formed on his forehead, and he knew that he was a Guardian and he and Goku could help Ryoko.  
  
The two exchanged looks, and dove through the barrier. They stood next to Ryoko and threw their own energy attacks at Ryuukaze, Goku's blue and Trunks' gold.  
  
"Dad! Trunks!" Ryoko cried, still breathing heavily.  
  
"We're here for ya, Ryoko." Goku said, Trunks nodded in agreement. Ryoko smiled and nodded, then put her energy back into her chi blast. Ryuukaze cried out in anguish and defeat, and was engulfed in the Guardian's powers. Ryoko smiled at Trunks and her father, her eyes closed.  
  
"Thank you…" She said. Her clothes changed back to her clothes that she was wearing earlier, and she fell into Trunks' arms.  
  
"She's going to live." Goku said, smiling as he placed a hand onto Trunks' left shoulder. Trunks' hair fell down and turned lavender, and he let out a relieved sigh. "She didn't have to give all of her energy away. But I'm not certain if she will ever regain her powers again, but I may be wrong, though it would be very hard to find the Purity Chalice again.  
  
A loud cry came from behind the three Guardians, and they turned around.  
  
"I wanna go home!" Mai cried, tears streaming down her face.  
  
17  
  
Three, never-ending days had passed since the first battle of the holders of the future. Ryoko had been unconscious for the three days, and Trunks was by her side the whole time. He wouldn't leave her, and he knew that he never would. He had been sitting next to her bed where she laid, one leg stretched out and the other with his foot on the ground and his arms grasped around his knee. Mostly he store at the wall before him, but occasionally he'd glance at Ryoko, to see if she had finally awaken.  
  
Trunks heard a noise in the room and instantly looked at Ryoko, but she was still. Another noise. Trunks jumped up.  
  
"Who's there?!" He cried out, his eyes scanning the room. A small, short being appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing the traditional Kai wardrobe, and he had blue, spiked hair and dark blue skin.  
  
"Hello, Lord Brief." The small man said, bowing. "I have brought something for Lady Ryoko." Trunks didn't feel the small man as a threat, so he let him approach Ryoko. He held his hands out above her, and a small, bright light appeared in his hands. He moved his hands apart and the light floated into Ryoko, and her eyes fluttered open. She sat up and rubbed her right eye. When she saw the man, she was fully awake.  
  
"…Tetsu?" She asked. Tetsu nodded.  
  
"Yes. It is nice to see you again, Ryoko." He said. Ryoko smiled.  
  
"What did you give me?" She asked. He told her to stand up, and she did. She started glowing, and her clothes again transformed. When the light disappeared, she was wearing a white, sleeveless body suit with a large, red bow in the middle of it. A blue, very short skirt was over the body suit, and she was wearing red gloves and boots with white tips. Her hair was in a pony-tail, as always/  
  
"It is a gift from Supreme Kai. It is not Guardian power, but its close." He smiled. "This is only the first stage. After this, you will have three more stages until you become a real Guardian." Ryoko smiled and thanked him. "It will be hard, but I know you all can do it." He was nodding. "Alright, I must return to Other World. Good luck, Lord Trunks, Lady Ryoko." The man disappeared as strangely as he had come.  
  
"R-Ryoko?" Trunks asked. "Are- are you alright? Are you still- you?" Ryoko laughed and nodded.  
  
"Yes, who else would I be?" She asked. Trunks shrugged.  
  
"Well…you became 'a Guardian' and…you said that you were alive in like, the beginning of time." Ryoko nodded and looked up at her ceiling, a smile on her face.  
  
"True. But I'm still me; I guess I just had a little more knowledge." Ryoko grinned. "But now all you don't have to worry about me because I'm not the weakest fighter out of all of you people!" Trunks laughed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." He said. "…what ever happened to Ceres?" Ryoko put a finger on her chin, thoughtfully.  
  
"Um, I guess she's still around. She must have stolen a body from an Earthling and be living in it until she can regain her power."  
  
"What is she, some kind of parasite?" Trunks asked. Ryoko laughed.  
  
"You could say that, I guess." Ryoko transformed back to her regular clothes. "What ever happened to Mai?"  
  
"She was crying by the end of the fight, and Gohan took her home." He replied. Ryoko giggled quietly.  
  
"She must have liked that." She said. Trunks laughed, lightly. Ryoko opened her door and went into the kitchen, where Goku, Chichi, Goten, and Gohan were waiting anxiously. Chichi jumped up when she saw her daughter, her eyes sparkling with tears and happiness.  
  
"Oh, Ryoko!" Chichi cried, hugging her. Ryoko was hesitant, but hugged her back. Trunks stood in her doorway, smiling to himself with his hands in his pockets. Chichi let her go and put her hands together, a single tear making its way down her cheek. Ryoko looked at her father, Goku, and expectantly. When Goku didn't move, Ryoko jumped at him, hugging him tightly. Goku looked surprised, like he didn't know what to do. Slowly, his arms made their way around her waste. Ryoko let him go and backed away. Through the saiyan bond, Trunks could tell that Ryoko didn't like the way her father hugged her. It was true, Goku was never very affectionate to the ones he loved. Ryoko looked at her feet, not sure what to say or do, feeling very awkward.  
  
"Tetsu paid you a visit?" Goku asked. Ryoko nodded. Goku's serious look changed to his normal, cheerful one. "We should go out to eat!" He cried. Ryoko's eyes widened.  
  
"How can you think of eating at a time like this?" Ryoko asked. Goku shrugged and scratched his head.  
  
"…I'm hungry…" Ryoko sighed.  
  
"You always are." She said. Chichi smiled.  
  
"Why don't we spend a nice, relaxing day at the hot springs?" She suggested. Ryoko beamed, as did Gohan and Goten.  
  
"Yeah!" The three Son children cried.  
  
18  
  
"This is gonna be fun!" Goten cried, already running towards the hot spring. He tripped on a wet spot, falling flat on his face, yelling and muffled, "I'm alright!"  
  
"Goten, you doofus!" Chibi Trunks cried, helping his fallen friend up. The Brief's had been invited to go, also. Ryoko was stubbornly leaning against the tile wall, refusing to be enjoying herself while the Ryuukaze were around. Chichi, Gohan, and Bulma had given up on her. Trunks was now trying to persuade her to have a good time.  
  
"Ryoko, come on." Trunks said. "You would have been having tons of fun if you were like the way you used to be!"  
  
"Well I'm not, and I have the responsibility to ensure the safety of the universe. Matter of fact, you and my father also have that responsibilty." She gave Trunks a glare. "It seems that only your father and I have that motive."  
  
"My father…" Trunks sighed. Since Vegeta had found out that he was a Guardian, he had been in the gravity room, never coming out. "Come on, Ryoko. Just relax for today." Ryoko shook her head. He nagged her a bit longer, and when she kept refusing, he smirked slightly. "Fine, then." She eyed him, worridly. He picked her up, Ryoko screaming in protest, as he threw her into the water. Everyone was laughing except for Ryoko, who stood up, looking quite…pissed. But the old Ryoko was showing through her Guardian responsibilities and she grinned.  
  
"What the hell, Trunks?!" She cried. Trunks laughed, then gasped as his body was floating in the air, not by his own doing. Ryoko was laughing. "I may have lost my physical strength, but I still have my mental power."  
  
"That's not fair!" Trunks cried as she threw him into the water.  
  
"We have the same powers." Goku said. "Ryoko just has more mental power because she has been able to train her mind for thousands of centuries…"  
  
"Have you developed any powers yet?" Ryoko questioned. Goku nodded.  
  
"A little." He said.  
  
  
That night, Ryoko was hesitant to put her hand on the phone.  
  
"Who are you calling?" Goten asked, yawning. Chibi Trunks was sleeping over, and the boys were on their way to bed.  
  
"My friend, Kotori…" She said. She hadn't talked to Kotori since the dance. She dialed his number, 555-9822, and hung up, deciding that seeing him would be better. "Mom! I'm going to Kotori's!" Ryoko called, knowing that her mother didn't really have a clue to who Kotori was.   
  
Ryoko ran out the door and jumped into the air and flew towards his house. When she got there, she knocked on the door. "Kotori!" She called. Kotori came to the door, in his pajamas, rubbing his right eyes. When he saw Ryoko, he suddenly seemed wide awake and alert.  
  
"Ryoko?! What are you doing here?" He cried.  
  
"I…" she started, but she suddenly realized that she didn't know why she was there. She just felt like she should be there, like she belonged there, like she always had when she was younger. "I don't know." Kotori sighed.  
  
"Well, I guess you can come in." He said, then went back into his house, Ryoko following, feeling awkward again. She sat down on the couch, and just stared at him, feeling many emotions other than awkwardness. Confusion, guilt, pity, and…love? "You know it's like, eleven, right?" Ryoko nodded.  
  
"Yeah, sorry." She said. Do I still…? She asked herself. …no. I can't, I love Trunks.  
  
'I should have known.' Trunks said in her mind, through the bond.   
  
'Trunks, I-'  
  
'No, forget it.' Ryoko had forgotten about the link between Trunks and Ryoko, and she suddenlt felt very vulnerable. If she had remembered it, she would have hidden the seemingly returning feelings for Kotori from Trunks.   
  
"Kotori?" She asked. He looked at her, "do you…do you still love me?" Kotori's eyes widened.  
  
"Well, I uh, I mean…" He sighed. "Yeah." He said, plainly. Ryoko stood up, tears of confusion and frustration filling her eyes. She ran out of the house, leaving Kotori bewildered. All she had ever wanted was for him to love her, and if not, to find someone like Trunks.  
  
Ryoko didn't know where she was going, but her heart did, and she suddenly found herself standing before Trunks.  
  
19  
  
  
Trunks walked over to Ryoko, pulled her to him by placing his hand on her lower back, and gave her the most passionate kiss that she had ever been given. When he pulled away, she protested, but he put a hand over her mouth gently. "No, that was for goodbye." Ryoko stared at him in shock and confusion as he backed away from her, she had though that they would be together forever. If she was using her Guardian knowledge, she would have known that they were meant to be together.  
  
He flew several feet up in the air and looked down at her, with tears in his eyes, though they remained unfalling. "Oh, and Ryoko? I love you. A lot. More than Kotori ever could." And with that, he flew off, leaving Ryoko to weep.  
  
  
  
Ryoko had tears streaming down her face, but she was still walking. What Trunks had said hurt her to the core, and she felt like throwing up. Suddenly, she felt something brush against her face, and she touched it. It was a beautiful, blood red flower. Gazing at the flower, she missed the presence of someone behind her.  
  
"The beauty of a flower comes and fades, but yours shines forever", said a soft, deep voice. As soon as Ryoko turned around, her vision went dark.  
  
Tears flew off of Trunks' face as he continued flying to his unknown destination. He grunted, and powered up so he was flying as fast as he could. Abruptly, his Guardian instincts sensed a Ryuukaze close by, actually, right near another Guardian… Fear filled his senses, and the feeling of pure evil ran through his body.  
  
"Ryoko!" He suddenly cried, turning into a Guardian and flying faster than he ever had, searching for Ryoko. The feeling of Ryuukaze's presence had left him, and he also couldn't feel Ryoko, so he knew that he wouldn't be able to find them. The only thing worse than knowing that Ryoko might be in any sort of life-threatening danger was knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. There was nothing else to be done but see if he could find some way to get help, so he started flying towards the Son house.  
  
  
  
"This definetely isn't good." Goku said to Trunks when he arrived. "How keen are your mental powers?" He quickly powered up to his Guardian state.  
  
"Not very sharp, I'm afraid." Trunks replied solemnly.  
  
"Well, the South Ryuukaze has Ryoko and Vegeta." Goku said. Trunks looked at him, eyes wide. He sudenly regreted very deeply giving up Ryoko. "The South Ryuukaze is ery weak, Trunks, but his mental stamina is far superior to ours, and he is very good at tricking people, no, I should say he is very good at mind control, brain washing. Who knows what he could do to them…"  
  
20  
  
"Let us go, Ryuukaze!" Ryoko cried. She and Vegeta was bound by red ribbons, stretching her arms and legs out making her body form into an x-like appearance, and the ribbons seemed to be tied to nothing, Ryoko and Vegeta seemed to be hanging in blackness.  
  
"When I get out of this, there will be nothing left of you!" Vegeta cried, he had finally reached his true form in the midst of his training, and they were both at their ultimate levels, feeling very vulnerable. Ryoko was relieved that Vegeta had found his Purity Chalice, if not, Ryuukaze might have been able to steal it like Ceres had tried, then it would be much more difficult to destroy him.  
  
"My, my," started the South Ryuukaze, "such confident words for such a small man." Vegeta growled, and started twsiting around wildly in an attempt to break free, screaming madly. "Stop it, Vegeta, you'll hurt yourself." When Vegeta didn't stop, red electricity flowed around his body. He screamed one last shout of protest, and his body went limp.  
  
"We're going to destroy you, Ryuukaze." Ryoko said, much more confident than Vegeta because she knew that it was the truth. "I'll make sure of it, and I'll kill you just as I did so long ago."  
  
"Are you sure you really want to?" Ryuukaze asked. "Really, Ryoko, can't you see? Everyone you have ever loved has hurt you…"  
  
"…That's not true!" Ryoko lied. When she was about twelve, she always thought about everyone that she had ever gotten close to had hurt her, and she remembered how painful it was. But she was happy now, and loved her life.  
  
"Is it?" Ryuukaze asked. Ryoko didn't answer, or wouldn't answer. "You see? Think about it… The people who were taking care of you for seventeen years, your supposed 'parents', didn't care about you at all! And you're father, Goku?"  
  
  
The sword sent waves of electricity into Ryoko causing her body to jolt violently as Ryoko's eyes flung open and she sat up. She was in too much torture and to scream, but her mouth hung open in a silent one…the wound that the sword had created began to bleed profusely…as Ryoko gaped in confusion and shock at who had done this to her…  
  
Son Goku was standing in front of his dying daughter, a smill, evil grin spreading across his face.  
  
"It was just a dream!" Ryoko cried, not sure if she believed herself.  
  
"Ryoko, Ryoko, Ryoko…how are you going to make me believe you, if you can't convince yourself in the first place?" Ryoko didn't reply. "And Mai? Think of how many times she pretened to be your friend, lied to you, and hurt you! Think of when she told you that Kotori would never love you, and sided with her boyfriend against you! Some friend! And what about Kotori? You loved him for so long and he knew that he was putting you through so much pain, and in the end you find out that he actually did love you all along! He let you go through so much pain, then told you when you were finally happy just to cause you more pain! And now, he's the reason why Trunks left you!" Tears sprang into Ryoko's eyes. "If he cared about you, he would have known that you loved him and he wouldn't have left you! Still don't believe that no one loves you, now…?"  
  
"…all this time…" Ryoko said to herself, quietly. The white and black in her eyes faded away, and all that was left was blue, shading from light to dark. In front of her she saw everyone that she knew and cared about: Trunks, Goku, Gohan, Goten, Chichi, Bulma, Vegeta, Chibi Trunks, Yamcha, Krillin, Roshi, Piccolo, Tien, Chaotzu, Kotori, Mai…All glaring at her, with looks on their faces saying 'you're so stupid, Ryoko, why didn't you realize that we don't give a shit about you…?'. All the pain welled up inside her and she screamed, like she had when she was turning into a super saiyan, but a red, not gold light surrounded her body.  
  
  
  
"You're a disgrace, Vegeta." Ryuukaze said, working on his next victom. "You're supposed to be the Guardian of saiyans and you let another man, a commoner, take revenge on the one who destroyed your people! And on top of that, you tainted the blood line by mating with a human! A half saiyan is a disgrace to the royal family name!"  
  
"My son is actually the one who avenged the saiyans!" Vegeta cried, trying to defend himself in any possible way, though he knew his protest made no difference. "He was the one to kill Frieza and his father in the end!"  
  
"That means nothing to the saiyans! He's a nothing, a half saiyan. You're lucky that your father is not here, he would have beaten you if he knew!" Vegeta was encased in the same red energy as Ryoko.  
  
  
Trunks and Goku stood in a field with the rest of the Z fighters along with Bulma, Chichi, Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Kotori, and Mai, anxiously awaiting the return of the other two Guardians.  
  
"Look!" Krillin cried, pointing to the sky. Vegeta and Ryoko were hovering there, their hair wipping in the wind, cruel features set on their dark faces and in their lifeless, dark eyes.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko!" Goten cried, happily raising a hand in the air and waving. Ryoko smirked and dissapeared. "Where'd she- ah!" Goten cried. His older sibling suddenly had him by the throat, and was squeazing quite hard. "Hey, 'leggo!"  
  
"Goten!" Chibi Trunks cried, running towards his friend. Ryoko glared at him and stuck out her hand. Wind like energy sped towards Chibi Trunks, and he was blown back. He hit his head on a near-by rock, and fell unconcious as his head bled onto the ground. Ryoko started sending an energy blast through Goten's neck, but Goku slammed his body into her in an attempt to make her miss Goten, but instead, it made the chi blast go up and through Goten's head. His body went limp in her hand, and Ryoko dropped him.  
  
"Trunks!" Bulma cried, running towards her son.  
  
"Goten!" Chichi shrieked, kneeling next to her childs corpse. "Ryoko, why?!" Ryoko only laughed.  
  
"No one loves me, so why should I fight for the good?" She asked. "Why should I love any of you?"  
  
"Ryuukaze showed us the truth." Vegeta said, standing next to Ryoko. "Here's one thing I've been wanting to do for so long…" He dissapeared and reappeared behind Trunks, kicking him and sending a large, powerful chi blast at him. Trunks landed quite far away, but close enough for everyone to see him. Vegeta appeard in front of him, and placed his foot on his chest. "You disgraced me! A half saiyan, tainting the royal family blood line!" He started to put pressure on Trunks' chest.  
  
"Father…" Trunks choked. He was already in his Guardian form, and Vegeta was just a little too strong for Trunks to overcome. "Mother, Trunks, and I love you…don't you see that?"  
  
"Love," said Vegeta. "What does love got to do with this, this is about honor, respect and my pride. You don't get it love makes a warrior weak, and it has made you weak. Now that I have shed the love I had for you and your mother, I have realized my true potential. I will be the greatest fighter in the universe." Vegeta stepped down harder on Trunks' chest and pressed down causing Trunks to cough up blood and for him to scream in agony as a loud crack was heard.  
  
"Da…addy," said Trunks, a word that he had never said before in his life.  
  
Vegeta stopped right in that stance. He was frozen in thought of what to do. Suddenly the energy in his hand disappeared and he stood there, his eyes focused on his son; Trunks' blood was running down his face, his tears were welling, as he was frightened to death. "Hmph." Vegeta lifted into the air. "You're lucky, kid, I'm going to spare you. For now." Vegeta flew off as it started to rain.  
  
"Well, I'll see you all, later." Ryoko said, following Vegeta.  
  
  
The rain was falling on Trunks' face as it washed the blood off of it and down to the ground. His golden hair turned back to the lavender purple as it became soaked in the puddle of blood that had formed around his head. Trunks screamed and coughed, his last bit of energy was leaving him. A warm glow surrounded him, and Trunks felt healed. He sat up, and saw Goku.  
  
"You okay?" Goku asked, changing back to his normal, saiyan state. Trunks rubbed his head.  
  
"…yeah. I'm fine." He sighed. "What are we going to do?" Goku looked at the ground.  
  
"Well…it's our duties as Guardians to protect this world, so if we must, we'll fight." Trunks was shocked. How could he fight two of the people that he cared most about?  
  
21  
  
"I never really liked this place, these humans are so weak and they think that they are the best thing in the universe," Vegeta said to Ryoko on their way to Ryuukaze. "The only reason they still exist is because of us Saiyans and our bizarre habit of saving them from obliteration."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. If it weren't for us, they'd be dead." She agreed. "Damn fools."  
  
  
  
a/n- thats it...for now...updates will probably be frequent...hehe, I love this story, I hope you do! Please review!! 


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